OSLO—A hibakusha representing this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate delivered a stark warning against world leaders who rely on nuclear weapons or even threaten to use them.

“I am infinitely saddened and angered that the ‘nuclear taboo’ threatens to be broken,” said Terumi Tanaka, a co-chairperson of the Japan Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), at the awards ceremony here on Dec. 10.

Tanaka, 92, was referring to suggestions by Russian and Israeli leaders about the possible use of nuclear weapons in ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza Strip.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prize to Nihon Hidankyo, a group of atomic bomb survivors, 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.”

The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and another on Nagasaki three days later.

By the end of that year, about 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and about 74,000 in Nagasaki.

Tanaka was a first-year junior high school student when he was exposed to atomic bomb radiation at his home in Nagasaki. 

While his mother, brother and two sisters he resided with survived, five relatives died.

Tanaka has been involved in Nihon Hidankyo since its founding in 1956 and served as secretary-general for a total of 20 years.

He played a key role in calling on the government to issue atomic bomb survivor’s health handbooks and provide free health checkups for hibakusha.

In his speech, Tanaka emphasized that the government has not provided any compensation for those killed in the atomic bombings, which has been a key demand of Nihon Hidankyo.

Experts say the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is at the highest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

“Please try to imagine—there are 4,000 nuclear warheads, ready to be launched immediately,” Tanaka said, explaining that they could wreak damage hundreds or thousands of times greater than that inflicted on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.

“Any one of you could become either a victim or a perpetrator, at any time,” he said. “I therefore plead for everyone around the world to discuss together what we must do to eliminate nuclear weapons, and demand action from governments to achieve this goal.”

Tanaka said the public anti-nuclear campaign needs to target nuclear powers.

“I hope that the belief that nuclear weapons cannot—and must not—coexist with humanity will take firm hold among citizens of the nuclear weapon states and their allies, and that this will become a force for change in the nuclear policies of their governments,” he said.

The surviving ranks of hibakusha are rapidly shrinking and aging.

As of the end of March, 106,825 people held the atomic bomb survivor’s health handbook, down more than 70 percent from the peak, with the average age at 85.58 years.

“Ten years from now, there may only be a handful of us able to give testimony as firsthand survivors,” Tanaka said. “From now on, I hope that the next generation will find ways to build on our efforts and develop the movement even further.”

Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, also emphasized the importance of passing on hibakusha’s experiences to the next generation.

“Memories can imprison us, cut us off, prevent us from moving on,” he said in a separate speech. “But they can also be a catalyst for new life, a safeguard against forgetfulness and a tool for honoring those who have suffered.”

Tanaka concluded his 21-minute speech with a forceful message.

“Let not humanity destroy itself with nuclear weapons! Let us work together for a human society, in a world free of nuclear weapons and of wars!”

Audience applause at Oslo City Hall lasted for 1 minute and 35 seconds. 

Nihon Hidankyo is the first Nobel Peace Prize winner in seven years that is dedicated to nuclear disarmament and abolishment.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which helped bring about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, received the honor in 2017.

(This article was compiled from reports by Gakushi Fujiwara and Asako Hanafusa.)