Photo/Illutration From left: Toshiyuki Mimaki, Terumi Tanaka and Shigemitsu Tanaka hold a banner off a hotel balcony in Oslo, representing their cause as co-chairpersons of the Japan Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) on Dec. 10. (Jun Ueda)

OSLO—Terumi Tanaka went off-script during his speech at the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony to remind an international audience that Japan has not offered compensation to atomic bomb casualties.

“Let me repeat what I have said one more time,” Tanaka, who represented the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), said in a speech on Dec. 10. “I want you to know that the Japanese government has not provided any compensation to those who were killed in the atomic bombings.”

Earlier in the speech, Tanaka, 92, said the government has not responded to the demand for state compensation that Nihon Hidankyo has made since its founding in 1956.

“No compensation was provided for the hundreds of thousands of deaths, and to this day the Japanese government has consistently refused to provide state compensation, limiting its measures to radiation damage only,” he said.

At a news conference on Dec. 11, Tanaka, a co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, said he decided to improvise to draw global attention to state compensation to war victims, which he said is not only a domestic but also international issue.

After its defeat in World War II, Japan renounced its right to demand compensation from the United States and other wartime enemies.

Inside the country, the government has limited its compensation for wartime damage to former service members and civilian employees of the military.

The government has paid more than 60 trillion yen ($394.10 billion) to veterans and their bereaved family members in pensions and other benefits.

But civilians, such as victims of air raids and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been excluded from beneficiary eligibility, in principle.

Tanaka said Nihon Hidankyo was founded to seek abolition of nuclear weapons and demand state compensation for the atomic bomb carnage.

The group contributed to the establishment of legislation to offer twice-a-year health checkups for hibakusha or pay allowances for designated disorders, for example.

But the government said these relief measures are part of social welfare programs, not compensation.

In contrast, Germany, another nation defeated in World War II, has provided compensation to all war victims, whether military or civilian.

Tanaka got his message across to some audience members.

Haavard Magelssen, 22, said touching on state compensation in a speech watched around the world is a very important and good “signal,” and it will help build a peaceful and better society.

Magelssen, who heads a political party of young Norwegians, said the issue of compensation for war victims also has a long history in Norway.

A 15-year-old student newspaper reporter covering the Nobel Peace Prize said it was a courageous decision to express opinions about the government and discuss the importance of human rights at a major venue.

Some criticized Tanaka’s speech online, however.

“Seek compensation from the United States,” one poster said.

Another said, “You want money more than peace?”

Nihon Hidankyo said if no one takes responsibility for the atomic bomb damage, it could exonerate a country that uses a nuclear weapon from liabilities for compensation.

Seiko Mimaki, an associate professor of international politics at Doshisha University’s graduate school, said the group’s demand for state compensation has raised a crucial question.

“Having a state take sufficient responsibility for a war will help keep it from causing a similar incident in the future,” Mimaki said.

At the Dec. 11 news conference, Tanaka said he does not expect that receiving the Nobel Peace Prize will suddenly improve the chances of achieving state compensation.

“To properly compensate all war victims, the state must address not only the atomic bomb damage but also other wartime damage,” he said.

(This article was written by Shoko Mifune, Asako Hanafusa, Yuhei Kyono and Takashi Ogawa.)

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