By YUHEI KYONO/ Staff Writer
December 3, 2024 at 18:03 JST
Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations), speaks in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Dec. 2. (Koichiro Yoshida)
Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) said it hopes its acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize will fuel efforts to abolish nuclear weapons in Europe.
The hibakusha association held a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 2, ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo on Dec. 10.
The organization, representing survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.”
“I hope the fact that we won the award will trigger large nuclear weapons abolition movements in Europe as well,” Terumi Tanaka, the 92-year-old co-chair of the organization, said at the news conference.
He has been an anti-nuclear activist for nearly 70 years, and served as secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo for 20 years before being appointed co-chairperson.
Tanaka is scheduled to give a 20-minute speech at the ceremony. He said while he was preparing his speech, the faces of fellow hibakusha who have already died and other grass-roots activists came to his mind.
“It is so regrettable that they have already died. But all hibakusha will be gone anyway in the future. So, I’m thinking to say some words that encourage young people to carry these activities forward,” he said.
Michiko Kodama, 86, assistant secretary-general of the organization, told reporters, “I want to convey to the world the thoughts and feelings of hibakusha, as well as those of people whose lives were taken by the atomic bombings.”
Thirty hibakusha from Nihon Hidankyo and related people will attend the ceremony at Oslo. Overall, more than 80 people will leave for Oslo, including other hibakusha, children of hibakusha and members of related NGOs.
Several hibakusha also plan to give speeches about their firsthand experiences of the atomic bombings while in Norway.
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