Far from receding, the threat of nuclear weapons to the existence of humanity is increasing. The fact that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize went to a Japanese group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors should be seen as an urgent warning about this alarming situation and a message calling for an acceleration in efforts to achieve a nuclear-free future.

Since its formation 68 years ago, Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) has waged a vigorous campaign for the global abolition of nuclear weapons. The group comprised mostly of people who survived the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was named winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Oct. 11.

SPENT DECADES TO RAISE AWARENESS

Rising from the ashes of atomic destruction, the survivors, despite suffering from exposure to radiation, kept advocating “a world without nuclear weapons.”

The Nobel Committee praised the group’s efforts, saying it is receiving the prize for “demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.”

Around 210,000 people perished in the immediate aftermath of the atomic bombings. Those who survived suffered from illnesses caused by radiation, but the horrifying realities of the devastating effects on the people present in these cities at that time were covered up by the media censorship orchestrated by U.S. occupation forces.

It was not until 1954, following the U.S. hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, that public opinion against nuclear weapons began to emerge and gain traction, shedding light on the plight of hibakusha.

Two years later, Nihon Hidankyo was founded. At its founding in August 1956, the group declared, “Humanity must never again inflict nor suffer the sacrifice and torture we have experienced.” Since then, it has persistently engaged in grassroots educational activities to raise awareness about the realities and consequences of nuclear warfare, sharing the experiences of survivors to promote a peaceful future, at home and abroad, as well as at the United Nations.

The group’s efforts gained support worldwide, involving global civic organizations and non-nuclear states, leading to the creation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a landmark international agreement reached in 2017 aimed at legally banning nuclear weapons. That same year, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a driving force behind the treaty, won the Peace Prize.

However, contrary to the trend toward nuclear disarmament, the world today is seeing a chain of foolish acts by nuclear-armed states, which are increasingly relying on the destructive power of nuclear weapons.

The total number of nuclear warheads worldwide comes to more than 12,000. On the surface, the number has decreased since the Cold War. However the number of “active warheads,” those that are operationally deployed or ready to be deployed, excluding those stored in reserves, awaiting dismantlement, or otherwise maintained in a non-operational status, is on the rise. In reality, the world is regressing into a fresh nuclear arms race.

GROWING RELIANCE ON NUCLEAR ARSENALS

The two nuclear superpowers, the United States and Russia, hold 90 percent of these active warheads. Russia has started blatantly using nuclear threats as a means to advance its invasion of neighboring countries.

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 20 kilotons. Our tactical nuclear weapons are 70–75 kilotons,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June this year, referring to the yields of the explosion produced by the bombs, measured in terms of the equivalent amount of TNT (trinitrotoluene). “For some reason, the West believes Russia will never use” them, Putin threatened.

In the United States, the proposal to declare a nuclear no-first-use was briefly considered but has since been dropped, with reports that the U.S. government is considering an expansion in the deployment of warheads. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has long boasted of America’s nuclear capabilities under the banner of “peace through strength.”

In China, which is aiming for military superpower status, the number of operational nuclear warheads exceeded 500 last year and is expected to reach 1,000 by 2030, yet there is no framework for nuclear disarmament involving China.

North Korea is adamantly continuing its nuclear development to maintain its dictatorship. In the Middle East, Iran, which is believed to have nuclear ambitions, is locked in armed conflict with Israel, which is seen as a virtual nuclear power, raising serious concerns about potential nuclear warfare in the region.

The “Doomsday Clock,” used by scientists to show how symbolically close the world is to nuclear Armageddon, has remained at 90 seconds to midnight since last year, with its hands kept the closest they have ever been to “Doomsday.”

Under these circumstances, the prize awarded to Nihon Hidankyo should be seen as the most potent possible message that resonates the Nobel Committee’s sense of crisis about erosion in the international norm that nuclear weapons must never be used again. The message is that Hiroshima and Nagasaki are indeed lessons for humanity, pointing directly to an impending catastrophe.

As survivors age and pass on, the Nobel Committee notes, “One day, the hibakusha will no longer be among us as witnesses to history.”

“But with a strong culture of remembrance and continued commitment, new generations in Japan are carrying forward the experience and the message of the witnesses,” the committee added on a positive note.

An example of this is the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, launched in April. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a network of young people dedicated to the movement for nuclear disarmament is spreading.

“The core of Alfred Nobel’s vision was the belief that committed individuals can make a difference,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee stated in its announcement of its decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 to Nihon Hidankyo. To change the stance of nuclear-armed nations, it is up to every individual worldwide. The committee seemed to convey this sentiment.

EXPECTATIONS FOR JAPAN

As citizens of the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in war, Japanese have been actively involved in the movement for nuclear disarmament and are showing a commitment to lead it in the coming years. Against this backdrop, the Japanese government should ask itself what role it should play to contribute to the cause.

As he hosted the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima last year, former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a Lower House lawmaker from Hiroshima, called for “a world without nuclear weapons” and played a key role in compiling the “Hiroshima Vision” for nuclear disarmament.

However, under the Kishida administration, Japan’s reliance on U.S. nuclear capabilities deepened. Japan turned its back on signing and ratifying the Nuclear Ban Treaty and also rejected observer participation in conferences of signatory states.

Kishida’s successor as prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, before even being elected as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, mentioned the necessity to consider nuclear sharing with the United States and introducing nuclear weapons into the region. He has shown little sign of a commitment to nuclear disarmament.

What Japan should do is not join the domino effect of nuclear dependency. There are many people around the world looking at a dark sky on the horizon, said Joergen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

What Japan should do is to respond to the international community’s expectation for its own actions to cut off the catastrophic scenario and urge nuclear-armed and allied countries to join in.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 12