SURVIVORS of the atomic bomb have urged Japan to attend a United Nations conference on a treaty banning nuclear weapons, which opened in New York today, after the Pacific nation said it would not attend.

Chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japan’s national security is the primary reason it was not participating as an observer at the conference.

“Under the severe security environment, nuclear deterrence is indispensable to defend the people’s lives and assets, as well as Japan’s sovereignty and peace,” Mr Hayashi told reporters. 

Japan’s participation as an observer at the conference would “send a wrong message about the Japanese policy [supporting] nuclear deterrence and interfere with our effort in security, peace and safety,” he said.

Despite being so far the only victim of nuclear strikes — carried out by the United States in 1945 — Japan has refused to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, saying its goal is not feasible without the participation of any of the nuclear-armed states.

Survivors of the atomic bomb and their supporters have slammed Japan’s government for cleaving to US nuclear interests.

They have urged the Japanese government to participate in the conference as an observer amid growing global attention after Nihon Hidankyo, the  survivors’ grassroots organisation, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.