Hidankyo Leaders Hope Nobel Will Lead to End of Nukes; Cochair Aims to Sway Prime Minister

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:57 JST, October 13, 2024

Executive members of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, expressed their joy at winning the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize at a press conference in Tokyo on Saturday.

The seven members, who survived the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and some of whom attended online, also voiced hope that the Nobel would create momentum toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

“I didn’t really feel that joyous when I first heard we had won the prize, but after a night’s sleep, I feel happier,” said Terumi Tanaka, 92-year-old cochairperson of Nihon Hidankyo.

Tanaka said he received a phone call from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba earlier on Saturday. The prime minister congratulated him and said, “Nuclear weapons need to be abolished, but considering the current international situation, we have no choice but to take realistic measures.” According to Tanaka, Ishiba then asked that they meet in person.

Ishiba has previously alluded to the “sharing of nuclear weapons,” or the joint operation of the United States’ nuclear weapons.

“I’d like to have a thorough discussion with him and persuade him that that this is the wrong position,” Tanaka said.

“Nuclear weapons have never been used [since the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings],” said Hidankyo’s Assistant Secretary General Masako Wada, 80.

“This is not because nuclear weapons act as a deterrent. Rather, it is our actions that have served as a deterrent,” she said proudly.

Nihon Hidankyo was founded in 1956 by atomic bomb survivors and others. Group members have testified to the suffering they experienced due to the bombings and collected signatures both in Japan and abroad in support of a nuclear-free world.