Nihon Hidankyo’s Nobel Prize: Voices for Peace / Previous Peace Prize Winner Says Desire to Eliminate N-Weapons Understood Worldwide; Young People are ‘Last Generation’ to Hear from Hibakusha, Kawasaki Says

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, December 10, 2024

The following article is part of a series of interviews with members of the delegation of Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) who will attend the award ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Tuesday.

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Interview with Akira Kawasaki

ICAN International Steering Group member

This will be the second time for me to attend a Nobel Prize ceremony. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

At the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, Setsuko Thurlow, a 92-year-old atomic bomb survivor living in Canada, delivered a speech on behalf of ICAN. Hearing the loud applause that filled the hall, I felt really positive and thought, “Our desire [to eliminate nuclear weapons] is understood around the world.”

ICAN was recognized for its efforts to help establish the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted at the United Nations in 2017. The treaty completely bans the development and testing of nuclear weapons, among other things.

In 2008, the nongovernmental organization Peace Boat, of which I am coleader, began a project to travel around the world with atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to share their testimonies about their experiences.

I felt that the hibakusha atomic bomb survivors were able to share their feelings with the international community, as more than 170 hibakusha interacted with heads of state from various countries, as well as with U.N. officials.

We also worked with Nihon Hidankyo to promote international petitions, and after all our hard work, we were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The award has raised ICAN’s profile to unprecedented levels. Before we received the award, we had to start by explaining what ICAN is. But now, people immediately know that ICAN is an organization that worked hard to establish the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The number of volunteers has increased significantly, so it’s much easier for us to carry out our activities.

I think many people now know the name Nihon Hidankyo after it won the Nobel Peace Prize. The average age of hibakusha is now well over 85, and many are not as physically fit as they once were. In this sense, the award to Nihon Hidankyo was long overdue.

In particular, I would like the younger generation to be keenly aware of the fact that they are the last generation to be able to directly hear the voices of the atomic bomb survivors.

We must not burden hibakusha with their mission any longer.

At the award ceremony — seven years after ICAN was awarded [the Nobel Peace Prize] — we not only want to celebrate receiving the award but also use it to kick-off next year’s 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings and send a message from Oslo to encourage progress toward abolishing nuclear weapons around the world.

— Interviewed by Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Daiki Komatsu

Nihon Hidankyo

An organization formed by hibakusha and others in 1956 — 11 years after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki