Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese atomic bomb survivors’ group, has accepted the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize “for its efforts to realize a world freed from nuclear weapons”.
Now of their 80s and 90s, members of the group who survived American bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki accepted the award at a ceremony in Oslo’s Metropolis Corridor in Norway.
In an interview with Al Jazeera contained in the award venue, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, the co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, mentioned he was stunned to study the group had gained this yr’s award.
“I used to be within the Hiroshima Metropolis Corridor on the time watching the announcement, and I used to be anticipating that the prize this yr would go to individuals working for peace in Gaza,” he mentioned.
“I used to be simply so shocked.”
He mentioned the group’s mission is “making certain that nuclear weapons won’t ever be used once more”, and that it contains ending the conflict in Gaza.
Terumi Tanaka, who delivered the acceptance lecture on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo, additionally raised considerations about ongoing wars in Palestine and Ukraine.
“The nuclear superpower Russia threatens to make use of nuclear weapons in its conflict in opposition to Ukraine, and a cupboard member of Israel, within the midst of its unrelenting assaults on Gaza in Palestine, even spoke of the attainable use of nuclear arms,” Tanaka mentioned.
“I’m infinitely saddened and angered that the nuclear taboo threatens to be damaged,” he mentioned.
In his speech, Tanaka recalled the “shiny, white gentle” as an American bomber jet dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, three days after the primary bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
“Many individuals who have been badly injured or burned, however nonetheless alive, have been left unattended, with no assist by any means. I turned nearly devoid of emotion, someway closing off my sense of humanity, and easily headed intently for my vacation spot,” he mentioned.
Since then, Tanaka has joined with different survivors who’ve labored for many years to contribute to efforts to forestall nuclear weapons from ever getting used once more, together with by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
