On July 1, 1946, America began atomic bomb testing at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands (photo shows an underwater explosion on July 25). A total of 67 nuclear tests were conducted up to 1958. On March 1, 1954, the tuna fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru out of Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, was exposed to radiation in the "ashes of death" from the hydrogen bomb tests, killing 23 crew members. Residents of Rongelap Atoll also suffered serious health damage. (File photo, Public Domain)
The Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) commenced in 1997. The main theme of its latest edition, the memorable PALM10, was the ALPS treated water from Fukushima. For the Pacific Island countries, whose vast oceans have been exploited for nuclear testing and nuclear waste dumping since the end of World War II, the nuclear issue is a theme to which they are more sensitive than anywhere else in the world.
Behind the unity of the Pacific Island countries was their opposition to the hundreds of nuclear tests conducted in the Pacific by Great Britain, the United States, and France from 1946, immediately after the end of the war. The nuclear issue has also been a mission of the Pacific Islands Forum, co-host of the PALM, organized by the Japanese government.
Japan's first post-war diplomacy with the Pacific Islands began in 1954. Together, they were victims of nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Japan had been the victim of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As such, the campaign against atomic and hydrogen bombs quickly gained momentum in Japan.
The campaign was initiated by a group including women's organizations, welfare councils, PTAs, and labor unions in Suginami Ward Tokyo. International law scholar Kaoru Yasui, who was also a director of the Suginami Community Center, participated. The "Suginami Appeal" statement was released, resulting in the collection of over 32.5 million signatures from all over Japan.
Initially kept secret, the American Bikini test became known to the world after Japanese fishing boats were exposed to radiation. Meanwhile, Japanese domestic opposition to nuclear power was growing.
Pacific Islands' Nuclear Free Zone
Japan passed the Atomic Energy Basic Act in 1955. This brought it into line with the United States in promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Then, in the 1980s, nuclear power again brought Japan and the Pacific Island Countries together. This time it was over the issue of the dumping of nuclear waste at sea.
In the 1970s, Japan decided to dump low-level radioactive waste at sea. Preparations were made for the deposit into the high seas northeast of the Ogasawara Islands in 1981. Meanwhile, the Japanese Government notified the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Micronesian Islands of its plan. This was met with strong opposition from the Micronesian Islands. A condemnation resolution followed, adopted by the Pacific Islands Forum General Assembly in 1980.
Finally, in 1985 during his trip to Fiji, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone announced an indefinite suspension of plans to dump radioactive waste in the Pacific Ocean. In the same year, the Pacific Islands Forum adopted the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. It is known as the Treaty of Rarotonga.
Following Prime Minister Nakasone's visit to the Pacific islands, in 1987 Foreign Minister Tadashi Kuranari announced Japan's first post-war foreign policy towards the Pacific island countries. It was known as the "Kuranari Doctrine." In response, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation organized a conference of Pacific island countries in 1988, inviting Kuranari as chairman. The following year, in 1989, a ¥3 billion JPY ($20 million USD) fund was established.
Nuclear Opposition Through the 1990s
Once again, nuclear power linked Japan and the Pacific Island countries. Beginning in 1992, the Pacific Islands Forum adopted annual resolutions condemning the Japanese, British, and French governments involved in the shipment of plutonium from Japan. A hidden agenda of the PALM which began in 1997, was the Pacific Islands Forum's response to the plutonium shipments.
Although a billion-yen "Pacific Islands Development Cooperation Fund" was launched by the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPC) at the Second PALM in 2000, the Pacific Islands Forum General Assembly in the same year made it clear that this fund would be welcomed separately from the plutonium transport issue. It clearly stated that a billion yen could not solve the nuclear problem.
Until the fourth PALM in 2006, whenever Pacific Island leaders visited Japan, they were invited by the FEPC to visit Japanese nuclear power stations. There, clean and safe nuclear power was explained.
Finally, the Pacific Islands Forum's annual resolution condemning plutonium shipments stopped in 2006.
Joint Initiatives to Protect the 'Blue Pacific'
Then in 2011, the massive Northeast Japan earthquake caused an accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. Once again, nuclear power became an issue for Japan and the Pacific Islands. Even at the time of the accident, Pacific Island countries reacted very sensitively.
Thereafter, the Japanese Government's announcement that it would release ALPS treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi site raised strong concerns for the Pacific Islands Forum. However, the reactions of the countries differed.
Over the past few years, the Japanese Government has dispatched senior officials and experts to the Pacific island countries to explain the science of ALPS treated water. Therefore, there was a certain level of understanding during the PALM10.
Moreover, there was another major difference. That came from Japan's support for marine research in the Pacific, including the provision of fisheries research vessels. This difference could be seen in the attitude of Japan and the Pacific Islands Forum towards protecting the "Blue Pacific" together.
From 2006-2021, nuclear issues did not significantly affect the relationship between Japan and the Pacific Island countries. During this period, the PALM also began to actively address fisheries issues, maritime security, and climate change. This was a new issue for the PALM. These items remained as pillars of support in the 2024 PALM10 meetings.
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(Read the essay in Japanese.)
Author: Rieko Hayakawa, PhD
Rieko Hayakawa, PhD, is a Japanese scholar with expertise in Pacific security, ICT 4 Development, and ocean law. She worked at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and managed its fund related to the Pacific Islands from 1991 to 2017. Read her full biography and find her essays and analysis on Pacific Island countries on JAPAN Forward.
