At the International Meeting for Peace in Assisi, a dedicated morning forum brought together researchers, anti-nuclear activists, and Japanese representatives to address the urgent threats of nuclear proliferation and warfare. Highlighting the human cost of atomic conflict, Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki presented a poignant piece of history: the charred head of a wooden Marian statue—the sole surviving fragment recovered from the rubble of Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral following the 1945 atomic blast.
Hiroshima survivor Katsuko Tanaka delivered a moving account of the day her hometown was bombed when she was just six years old. Describing severe burns and a near-death experience that she kept silent about until her 70th birthday, Tanaka urged global leaders to recognize the shared humanity of all people. She reflected on viewing the world as a single “spaceship” without national borders, pleading with the international community to maintain continuous dialogue on non-proliferation so that the tragedy of Hiroshima is never repeated.
Susi Snyder, representing the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), highlighted how the global security landscape has shifted into an increasingly unpredictable multi-polar environment. Warning against reliance on nuclear deterrence, which she noted relies on the dehumanization of others, Snyder also raised concerns over modern technological developments. She cited recent research from King’s College London demonstrating that when artificial intelligence was integrated into nuclear command and control simulations, the systems consistently chose nuclear war, underscoring the vital need to keep human dignity and ethical restraint at the center of international policy.