G7 Summit in Hiroshima: Reflections on Maintaining Nuclear Deterrence

[Doshorun]What do you do when you insist on “maintaining nuclear deterrence” instead of “nuclear abolition” in Hiroshima?

Who was the G7 Summit and what was it for?

“National Power Fair 2023”. The G7 Hiroshima Summit, which was held over three days from May 19, left such an impression on me, a citizen living in the center of Hiroshima City. In an atmosphere of extraordinary and strangely tense atmosphere, while there were so many regulations, restrictions, and instructions in various aspects of life, I was forced to accept them earnestly every day.

Or, “National Police Vehicle Expo in Hiroshima”. From the Hokkaido police to the Okinawa prefectural police, my son, who is an elementary school student, was in high spirits from beginning to end when he saw police cars, police motorcycles, personnel transport vehicles, and other police vehicles and equipment from all over the country.

Police cars parked on the main street (photographed by the author)

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Two weeks after the G7 Summit passed, I still keep thinking about it in Hiroshima, where everyday life has returned to normal. “I wonder who the event was for and what it was for.”

Around the Peace Memorial Park, fences taller than one’s height were set up around the park, blindfolded so that one could not see what was going on inside. The warning, written in red letters that read “designated serenity preservation area” in the name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not the city of Hiroshima, which owns and manages the park, created a strange sense of intimidation.

After the curtain closed, the warning “designated area for maintaining tranquility” was displayed even after the blindfold curtain was removed (photographed by the author)

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Two nights before the opening, I was walking in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome when a police officer from another prefecture instructed me to take a detour. Children’s elementary schools are closed, after-school daycare is closed, and even though I am a single person who has been severely affected, I never thought that people from outside the prefecture would label me as an “outsider.”

The center of Hiroshima city has been chaotic since the heads of state of each country began to visit Hiroshima. If you are waiting for a signal, the pedestrian crossing will be blocked in an instant, and you will be stuck. When I asked him when it would be lifted, he said, “I don’t know.” Even if you ask about the regulation situation at the detour destination, “Ask over there”.

Police officers from all over the country came to support (photographed by the author)

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