Jorgen Watne Frydnes, 40, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, gave an address in Tokyo after visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki in July.

He touched upon the survivors of the atomic bombings of those two cities and said: “The hibakusha are not only victims of war. You are witnesses and teachers.”

He added, “Memory work can be an act of resistance, a force for change.”

It was just over seven months ago that the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations).

In addition to the hibakusha, Frydnes praised those working to carry on their memories.

Ironically, that praise and expectation only serve to highlight a very serious reality.

A FUTURE WITH NO HIBAKUSHA

Despite the calls by hibakusha to abolish nuclear weapons, the international situation runs counter to their appeal.

Moreover, the day will come when we can no longer hear directly about the wretched outcome of nuclear warfare from those who survived it.

Eighty years after atomic bombs were used for the first time, the average age of officially registered hibakusha exceeded 86 as of last March.

The number of hibakusha has dwindled by close to 8,000 over the past year and now stands at under 100,000.

All sorts of efforts are taking place to prepare for a future when there are no longer any hibakusha. That includes calling on reticent hibakusha to come forward with their accounts as well as seeking the donation of personal items.

Videos have been created using artificial intelligence that give the user the impression they are conversing with a hibakusha.

But we must also ask if there are other ways of heightening the ability of citizens to take on nations that refuse to awaken from the spell of nuclear deterrence.

An answer might be found if we think about what can ultimately be done to carry on the spirit of the hibakusha.

There are individuals who have attempted to gain wider cooperation.

Tomoko Watanabe, 71, executive director of the nongovernmental organization Asian Network of Trust (ANT)-Hiroshima called on about 20 organizations in Hiroshima Prefecture engaged in abolishing nuclear weapons to jointly host a welcome meeting for Frydnes.

Born and raised in Hiroshima city, Watanabe is a second-generation hibakusha, but the organization she started about 40 years ago has mainly been engaged in providing support to people living in Asian nations such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

She has frequently visited those nations and discovered that war and the ensuing chaos plague those left behind.

That led Watanabe to begin thinking about peace, Hiroshima and the atomic bombing of her city.

She explains that carrying on from the hibakusha means not only taking up their baton, but turning their memory into a personal matter by having it ingrained within one’s soul.

Rather than depend only on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to lead the campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, Watanabe wanted to spread the movement overseas.

At the Group of Seven summit meeting held two years ago in Hiroshima, she called for the establishment of a forum to discuss the abolition of nuclear weapons at a meeting of nongovernmental and civil society organizations, also known as an international civil society network. Her proposal came to fruition.

Born in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Yuta Takahashi, 24, met with a hibakusha when he was in junior high school. After graduating from university, Takahashi formed a Yokohama-based study group called Katawara, which seeks to abolish nuclear weapons.

He is now busy giving lectures about nuclear weapons at schools and elsewhere.

The starting point for Takahashi was a comment from the hibakusha when he and his classmates asked what they could do.

The hibakusha responded with, “Why are you asking me?”

WHAT ONE CAN DO

Only knowing about what the hibakusha experienced and thinking about the importance of peace cannot be said to be carrying on their spirit.

Takahashi came to believe that acting in a way that responded to the thoughts of the hibakusha was the genuine path to carry on their spirit.

He focused on the 17 sustainable development goals established by the U.N. in such areas as the environment, poverty and gender equality.

The philosophy preconditioned on participation by all nations and all age groups has much in common with the path toward abolishing nuclear weapons.

Takahashi planned a session related to SDGs at a citizens’ forum held in Tokyo in February. He met with representatives of groups working in other areas, such as international cooperation and the environment.

It’s not just Japanese who can take up the hibakusha’s baton. So, another major task will be joining hands with those living overseas, especially Americans, because their nation dropped the atomic bombs.

A public opinion survey of Americans by the Pew Research Center found that 35 percent of respondents believed the atomic bombings could be legitimized while 31 percent did not.

For respondents aged 65 and older, the ratio of those who said the bombings could be legitimized was more than double that of those who said they could not be legitimized.

But among those aged between 18 and 29, only 27 percent said the attacks could be legitimized while 44 percent disagreed.

A Gallup survey from 80 years ago found that 85 percent of American respondents supported the 1945 atomic bombings against Japan.

While we must be careful about interpreting the latest results, it can be said that the calls made by hibakusha in the United States over many years have had an effect.

NEW IDEAS, METHODS NEEDED

A forum was held in Nagasaki in May devoted to a new term, “peacepreneur,” a portmanteau of peace and entrepreneur.

One goal of the forum was to foster individuals capable of seeking solutions to issues through dialogue with people holding different views, while maintaining a clear focus on peace.

With an increase in young people who are more aware about nuclear weapons and peace, they might be able to heighten antinuclear calls to the world if they are active on the international stage.

Japan’s nuclear weapons abolition campaign was hampered for many years by confrontation and fragmentation.

But in spring 2024 the movement reached a turning point with the establishment of the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, that described itself as being “multi-partisan, multi-religious and multigenerational.”

Hideo Asano, 28, who handles event planning and discussions with the government and political parties, said one thing he learned from the hibakusha was to be imbued with the spirit of never giving up.

Even in nations that possess nuclear weapons, there has been an increase in cities and communities calling for the abolition of nuclear arsenals.

We call for deeper cooperation with local governments of nations around the world.

Carrying on the spirit of the hibakusha will likely require spreading the ties of cooperation by coming up with new ideas and methods to face national governments, thereby continuing the path they have trod for so long.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 6