People campaigning in Hiroshima have started collecting signatures to urge the Japanese government to sign and ratify the UN treaty banning nuclear arms. The treaty will come into force in January.
A group of about 30 people appealed for support near Peace Memorial Park in the western city on Saturday. Visitors were seen responding to their calls.
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide says US President-elect Joe Biden has suggested that Washington will help Japan defend the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea under the bilateral security treaty.
Suga and Biden spoke for the first time over the phone for about 10 minutes on Thursday morning, Japan time.
Protesters in Nagasaki held a monthly sit-in protest, calling on Japan to ratify the UN nuclear ban treaty.
About 90 people, including survivors of the US nuclear bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, gathered at the city's Peace Park on Monday.
Survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and peace groups are launching a signature campaign to urge the Japanese government to ratify a UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will enter into force in January after reaching the necessary 50 ratifications earlier this month. But Japan is among the countries that have not signed the treaty. Nuclear powers, including the United States, Russia and China, have not joined the pact.
The atomic-bombed city of Nagasaki has set up a countdown board to mark the number of days until next year's UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons goes into effect.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reached the necessary 50 ratifications on Saturday.
The mayor of Nagasaki City has repeated his call for the Japanese government to ratify the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Mayor Taue Tomihisa said he wants the government to attend a signatories' meeting as an observer if it is difficult for Japan to ratify the treaty.
A key Japanese member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, has expressed joy at the UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons reaching the required 50 ratifications to go into effect.
ICAN International Steering Group member Kawasaki Akira looked back on the path he took with many atomic bomb survivors during an online news conference.
A group comprising Japanese NGO members and students has launched a campaign urging the government to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The group made the announcement in an online event on Friday. Its members are asking Diet legislators and prefectural governors if they favor the treaty. Their views will then be published online.
Russia's presidential office spokesperson has expressed hope that the successor of Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzo will remain committed to boosting ties with Moscow to resolve the issue involving Russian-controlled islands claimed by Japan.
Dmitry Peskov spoke to the state-run Tass news agency about peace treaty negotiations that will continue under a new Japanese leader. Abe has announced his intention to step down to deal with health issues.
The head of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, has urged Japan to launch discussions on whether to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to the adoption of the treaty.