"The number of 204 does not mean that the rest are opposed to the letter or were reluctant to sign it," says Akira Kawasaki, executive committee member of Peace Boat, a global group based in Japan, and advisor to the Australian and Japanese co-chairs of the International Commission on Nuclear Non- Proliferation and Disarmament. "If the initiators of the move had been pro- active, all the Diet members would have signed the letter. "Members of the Communist Party did not sign the letter because they found it to be too modest, and instead favoured further steps for disarmament," Kawasaki said in an e-mail interview from Tokyo.
"Idadi ya wajumbe 204 haimaanishi kwamba waliobakia wanapingwa na barua au hawakuwa tayari kutia saini," anasema Akira Kawasaki, mjumbe wa kamati ya utendaji wa Peace Boat, kikundi cha kimataifa kilichopo Japan, na mshauri wa nchi ya Australia na Japan zinazosimamia Kamisheni ya Kimataifa ya Kuzuia Ueneaji na Upunguzaji wa Silaha za Nyuklia. "Ikiwa waanzilishi wa jitihada hiyo wangekuwa na msukumo zaidi, wajumbe wote wa Diet wangeweza kutia saini barua hiyo.