HIROSHIMA – Seven organizations of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima Prefecture urged the government to support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Officials of the groups handed a set of written requests, including support for the treaty, to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during their meeting at a hotel in Hiroshima.

The officials said the government has not actively engaged in peace diplomacy, shown enthusiasm about eliminating nuclear weapons or worked out concrete policies on nuclear abolition while speeding up work to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities.

In reply, Takaichi said, “Japan understands the inhumanity of nuclear arms more than any other country because it is the only nation attacked with nuclear weapons.”

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by U.S. atomic bombs in August 1945, in the closing days of World War II.

Earlier on Thursday, Takaichi attended Hiroshima’s annual ceremony to honor the victims of the atomic bombing of the city and to pray for peace.

At the meeting with hibakusha, Takaichi said her administration firmly maintains Japan’s three nonnuclear principles of not possessing nuclear weapons, not producing them and not allowing them into the country, adding, “We will work steadily to realize a world without nuclear weapons.”

On Takaichi’s remark on the nonnuclear principles, Hiroshi Harada, 87, head of one of the seven groups, told reporters after the meeting, “We want to confirm whether our thoughts are understood (by the prime minister.)”

Kunihiko Sakuma, 81, chief of another group, expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “(Takaichi) seems to have avoided mentioning the future” regarding the nonnuclear principles.

Later on Thursday, Takaichi visited Kandayama Yasuragi Nursing Home, a residential facility for hibakusha in the city’s Higashi Ward.

She told residents, “I would like to express my sincere gratitude for passing on your precious experiences to younger generations although it must be painful to remember those days.”

Haruso Monde, a 100-year-old resident, said, “I want the prime minister to absolutely adhere to the three nonnuclear principles.”