Torchlight March Marks Hibakusha Group’s Nobel Win;A-Bomb Survivors, Supporters Chant, ‘No More War’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:33 JST, December 11, 2024

A torchlight procession to celebrate this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was held in central Oslo on Tuesday evening after the presentation ceremony. This year’s winner is Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations).

Many citizens and hibakusha atomic bombing survivors marched together shouting, “No more wars.”

The marchers departed from near the Oslo city government office, where the ceremony to award the prize was held, holding torches. More than 2,000 torches were prepared for the procession.

They marched for about 1 kilometer on a cold night in minus 6 C weather.

During the procession, some marchers carried photos of the faces of about 130 hibakusha, who had been members of Nihon Hidankyo since the time the group was established.

Yoshie Kurihara, 77, a member of the group’s delegation who made the panels, said, “I want to further spread hibakusha’s wishes for the elimination of nuclear weapons in Japan and abroad.”