Awarded against a backdrop of growing conflict in the world and the renewed threat of the use of atomic weapons, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo. The largest Japanese organization of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 is honored “for his efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through testimony that nuclear weapons should never again be used”explained the Norwegian Nobel committee on Friday, October 11.
“It’s a dream within a dream. I can’t believe it”Toshiyuki Mimaki reacted, through tears, hibakusha (bombing survivor) and member of Nihon Hidankyo, who followed the announcement live from Hiroshima City Hall.
“The survivors of the atomic bomb were martyred by the United States and abandoned by the Japanese government for many years. I see again the faces of our predecessors who worked to prevent new hibakushasas they struggle to overcome their suffering.”added Kiichi Kido, secretary general of the organization.
Currently visiting Laos, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba praised the long-standing efforts of Nihon Hindankyo and called the award a“extremely significant”. This is the first time that Japan has won the Nobel Peace Prize since the one awarded in 1974 to former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (1901-1975). He was rewarded for exposing three fundamental principles regarding nuclear energy in Japan: not to manufacture, not to possess and not to introduce atomic weapons into Japanese territory. He also signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“Do not relive our suffering”
Nihon Hindankyo was founded in 1956, eleven years after the bombings carried out by the United States on August 6 and 9, 1945, at the end of World War II, which left 140,000 dead in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki and fueled a powerful nation. pacifist current carried by the hibakushas.
Its creation occurred in the middle of the campaign against atomic and hydrogen bombs in a Japan dismayed by the tragedy of the tuna boat crew. Daigo Fukuryuexposed in 1954 to radiation from the American hydrogen bomb test on Bikini Atoll, in the heart of the Pacific. “Humanity must not relive our sacrifices and our suffering”stated the organization since its creation.
During the Cold War, Nihon Hidankyo sent delegations to the UN three times. In 1982, Senji Yamaguchi (1930-2013) was the first hibakusha to speak at the United Nations special session on disarmament. He had called for “We no longer believe Hiroshima, Nagasaki, war, hibakushas”.
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