Japanese atomic bomb survivors receive Nobel Peace Prize

The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese organization formed by survivors of the two US atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized the organization for “its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and to demonstrate through the testimony of witnesses that nuclear weapons should never be used again”.

Debate about the bombing, which killed more than 100,000 Japanese, was largely taboo in the immediate post-war period. This was, in part, due to American press censorship in occupied Japan.

But in 1954, radioactive pollution from an American nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean became so widespread that it fell on a Japanese fishing boat, the Lucky Dragon, killing one from radioactive poisoning.

Many people survived the atomic bomb due to the Lucky Dragon incident, known as hibakushaThey will talk about their experiences. In this context, the Nihon Hidankyo was created in 1956.

since, hibakusha Has played an incomparable role in anti-nuclear weapons activism around the world. According to the Nobel Committee, his testimony “contributed to generating and strengthening widespread opposition to nuclear weapons throughout the world.”

For example, in 1975, a group of hibakushaMembers of Nihon Hidankyo, including Setsuko Thurlow, a renowned global activist against nuclear weapons, organized an exhibition on the atomic bombings at the Toronto Public Library.

This helped lead to the development of a major anti-nuclear movement in Canada. In the early 1980s, thousands of Canadians demonstrated regularly against their government’s support for American nuclear weapons.

Later, in 1984, another Hiroshima bombing survivor, Takashi Morita, co-founded an organization hibakusha Based in São Paulo to share their stories and raise awareness among the Brazilian public about the devastating consequences of nuclear weapons.

growing awareness of the experiences of hibakusha In the 1980s it inspired Europeans to protest against the deployment of new nuclear missiles in their countries. The phrase “No to Euroshima!” It became a popular slogan of the European peace movement.

Nihon Hidankyo’s efforts have focused not only on sharing experiences hibakushabut also in using them to build support for the abolition of nuclear weapons around the world.

The organization has been a major supporter of the United Nations Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. The treaty, which came into force in 2017 and has been signed by 94 countries, prohibits states from engaging in any activities related to nuclear weapons.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – of which Setsuko Thurlow is a leading figure – was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its efforts to achieve a legally binding ban on such weapons.

still work to do

Within Japan, Nihon Hidankyo has worked to challenge the government’s position on nuclear weapons. Despite the horrors seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese government supports American nuclear weapons, and relies on them as a deterrent against various neighbors who also rely on them.

All governments of Japan have stressed the importance of nuclear weapons for the country’s national security. But this remains a controversial stance for many in Japan. All Japanese schoolchildren usually go to Hiroshima or Nagasaki to learn about the terrible consequences of nuclear weapons.

The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo is particularly timely. In 2023, the world’s nine nuclear powers spent more than $91 billion (over €83 billion) on nuclear weapons. And since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly threatened to use its nuclear arsenal.

These worrying developments were recognized by the Nobel Committee. In awarding the prize to Nihon Hidankyo, the committee said, “It is worrying that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”

The world’s nuclear powers – especially China and the US – are expanding and modernizing their arsenals. North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons program. And tensions between nuclear-armed Israel and near-nuclear Iran are rising rapidly.

The dangers posed by nuclear weapons are more evident now than at any time since the Cold War. with barely 100,000 hibakusha Living today, it is important that we hear their voices and their warnings.