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DATE=8/6/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-236600
TITLE= JAPAN / HIROSHIMA (L-ONLY)
BYLINE= AMY BICKERS
DATELINE= HONG KONG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 
INTRO:  THURSDAY MARKED THE 53RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE  ATOMIC 
BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA, JAPAN, DURING WORLD WAR TWO.  AS AMY 
BICKERS REPORTS FROM THE V-O-A ASIA NEWS CENTER, JAPANESE PRIME 
KEIZO OBUCHI TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO URGE INDIA AND PAKISTAN TO 
STOP THERE NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING PROGRAMS. 
TEXT: SOLEMN CEREMONIES MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED 
STATES' BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA TOOK PLACE IN THE WESTERN JAPANESE 
CITY THURSDAY.  FIRST THERE WAS AN OFFERING OF FLOWERS IN 
HIROSHIMA'S PEACE PARK, FOLLOWED BY A MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER AT 
QUARTER PAST EIGHT IN THE MORNING -- THE EXACT TIME THE BOMB 
EXPLODED ON AUGUST 6TH, 1945.  
JAPAN'S NEW PRIME MINISTER, KEIZO OBUCHI, ADDRESSED A CROWD OF AN
ESTIMATED 50-THOUSAND PEOPLE.  HE URGED BOTH  INDIA AND PAKISTAN 
TO HALT THEIR NUCLEAR TESTING PROGRAMS. 
MR. OBUCHI CALLED  INDIA AND PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR TESTS ,"VERY 
REGRETTABLE."  HE SAID THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IS STRONGLY URGING
BOTH COUNTRIES TO IMMEDIATELY STOP TESTING,  TO UNCONDITIONALLY 
SIGN THE COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY, AND TO HALT DEVELOPMENT 
OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS  AND THE MISSILES THAT CARRY THEM.
AI TAKADA, STAFF MEMBER OF THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST ATOMIC 
AND HYDROGEN BOMBS IN HIROSHIMA, ECHOED THE PRIME MINISTER'S 
CONCERNS.
                                    //// TAKADA ACT ///
               I THINK  IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE OF THE 
               WORLD, INCLUDING THOSE OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN LEARN
               ABOUT THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS-- 
               WHAT THE  NUCLEAR WEAPONS CAN  BRING TO THEIR 
               LIVES AND ENVIRONMENT, TO THEIR  GENERATIONS TO 
               COME. IF THERE IS A NUCLEAR WERAPON THERE IS 
               ALWAYS A DANGER IT WILL BE USED. THEY HAVE BEEN 
               USED IN HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI AND WE  SHOULD 
               LEARN A LESSON FROM IT.  
                                                /// END ACT ///
ABOUT 140-THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF 
HIROSHIMA. THREE DAYS LATER, THE UNITED STATES DROPPED A SECOND 
BOMB ON NAGASAKI IN SOUTHERN JAPAN, KILLING 70-THOUSAND.
THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME , HIROSHIMA INVITED AMBASSADORS TO 
JAPAN FROM  THE FIVE MAJOR NUCLEAR POWERS TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL 
COMMEMORATION. BUT THE DIPLOMATS FROM  THE UNITED STATES, 
BRITAIN, CHINA, FRANCE AND RUSSIA DID NOT ATTEND.  HOWEVER, 
AMBASSADORS TO JAPAN FROM INDIA AND PAKISTAN WERE PRESENT. 
ANTI-NUCLEAR MARCHES WERE ALSO SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE LATER 
THURSDAY IN MAJOR CITIES IN INDA AND PAKISTAN AS WELL. (SIGNED)
NEB/AB/FC
06-Aug-98 3:16 AM EDT (0716 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.