“In Japan, the declaration will also be remembered as the ‘Münster Declaration’”
Michiji Konuma, professor emeritus of theoretical physics at Keio University in Tokyo and former president of the Physical Society of Japan, is a former member of the Pugwash Council. This international organisation of scientists advocates for evidence-based policy and warns of the dangers of weapons of mass destruction. Through public appearances with Prof Koji Hashimoto, who scientifically edited the Japanese version of the film ‘Oppenheimer’, Michiji Konuma initiated a public debate in Japan on the social responsibility of science after the film's release in 2024. At the same time, he helped initiate the ‘Declaration for the Future’, which has now been signed in Münster. In an interview with Christina Hoppenbrock, he explains the motivation behind his commitment.
What motivates you, at the age of 94, to continue holding public lectures and panel discussions?
Young Japanese scientists have to invest a lot of time and energy to advance their careers. They only have a few years after completing their doctorates to prove themselves in temporary positions. They are very focused on their research. That leaves little room for political engagement; I find this generation to be very quiet politically. However, I have also noticed that when an opportunity arises – for example, our public discussions on the film ‘Oppenheimer’ – young people also engage actively in the discussion.
The ‘Declaration for the Future’ is not the first call from the scientific community to act responsibly and in the interests of world peace. What makes it different from previous declarations?
In the past, only a few leading scientists signed such declarations. Examples include the Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955, which called for the abolition of nuclear weapons and war, and the Göttingen Declaration of 1957, which advocated for comprehensively educating the German population about the dangers of nuclear weapons. This Declaration for the Future is the first time in history that a broad mass of people are behind it – around 80,000 members of the German and Japanese physical societies, represented by the signatures of the two presidents.
When the Americans dropped the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, you were 14 years old. How did you experience the situation?
At the time I hardly noticed anything. We lived in eastern Japan, in a mountain village about 100 kilometres from Tokyo. Japan was in the Second World War, and there were heavy American air raids day and night. The Japanese population had very limited access to news. After the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the government in Tokyo quickly learned from investigations by the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University that they had been atomic weapons. However, the population was not allowed to know this. Later, the American occupiers also had no interest in the truth coming to light and provoking criticism. It was only after the end of the American occupation in 1952 that the population learned how extremely severe the disaster was. The well-known photographic magazine Asahigraph reported on it in detail for the first time. I bought the issue myself and realised what had happened.
Another significant event was the hydrogen bomb test by the USA over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific in 1954.
I was a physics student at the time. Unlike in 1945, there was intensive reporting in Japanese and foreign newspapers afterwards. This was because the crews of various Japanese fishing boats that were out at sea were contaminated by radioactive fallout. The crew of the Lucky Dragon V was particularly badly affected – the entire crew fell seriously ill. One fisherman died a half year after returning home as a result, and many others died of cancer later. Japanese scientists very quickly identified radioactive radiation as the cause of the mysterious illness.
Were these the decisive events that led you to advocate for nuclear disarmament?
My ‘awakening’ took place in 1957. Two important events occurred that year. I was elected as a member of the Special Committee for Nuclear Physics of the Science Council of Japan. This task meant that I had to deal intensively with the relationship between the scientific field and society. In addition, the first Pugwash Conference took place in 1957. One of the founders of the Pugwash Conferences was nuclear physicist Joseph Rotblat, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with Pugwash in 1995. Rotblat had analysed the Japanese data on radioactive fallout from the Bikini Atoll test and discovered that it must have been a new type of hydrogen bomb with devastating destructive power. The explosive power, achieved for the first time through nuclear fission-fusion-fission, was 1,000 times greater than that of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I met Joseph Rotblat in Tokyo a month after the first conference of scientists in Pugwash, Canada, which dealt with issues of global security. He told us about the conference. I was very impressed and subsequently became a co-founder of the Japanese Pugwash movement in 1957.
Despite all the protests and counter-movements, the world is full of nuclear weapons and there are currently a number of armed conflicts and wars. Do you feel powerless in the face of this global situation?
I have never felt powerless. The world is constantly changing. Germany and France, for example, have fought many wars against each other, but today there is peace between the two countries. But of course there is also much cause for concern – from the situation in the Middle East to the war in Ukraine. And the risk of a disaster caused by the use of nuclear weapons due to misunderstandings or unfortunate coincidences, for example, has never been higher.
What do you recommend?
The Japanese and German Physical Societies should publish the ‘Declaration for the Future’ once a year in a prominent place so that it is not forgotten. Then future members will also be encouraged to consider what they can do for world peace.
Münster is a long way away from Japan...
Nevertheless, from the perspective of the Physical Society of Japan, it is also a special place to sign such a declaration. I am familiar with the history of the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia. I am sure that the ‘Declaration for the Future’ will be remembered in Japan also as the ‘Münster Declaration 2025’.
Date reminder: At the public closing event for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology on 15 November, Prof Michiji Konuma will take part in a panel discussion on science diplomacy at the invitation of organiser Prof Stefan Heusler (University of Münster). The discussion will follow a lecture by Prof Götz Neuneck on science diplomacy (‘Science Diplomacy and the work of physicists for Peace and disarmament: The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs’; Halle Münsterland, Red Hall, 4pm; for further information see https://www.quantum100.de/).