A Japanese organization representing atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki held a news conference in Tokyo following the group’s selection on Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Committee as recipient of this year’s Peace Prize.
Seven directors of Nihon Hidankyo attended Saturday’s event, either in-person or online.
Eighty-three-year -old Co-Chairperson Tanaka Shigemitsu, who endured the bombing in Nagasaki when he was four years old, commented on being awarded the prize.
He said he assumes testimonies offered by his seniors, both in and outside Japan, seeped through like rain water and compelled the committee to award the prize to Hidankyo at a time when nuclear threats have become imminent.
He observed that members of the group had persisted in their efforts despite facing discrimination, prejudice and health issues.
Seventy-eight-year-old Assistant Secretary General, Hamasumi Jiro, who was in his mother’s womb when the bomb exploded in Hiroshima, said his father was killed in the blast, and he was raised by his mother and elder sisters.
He said he wants to share the news and joy with his sisters.
Hamasumi added that the organization will not have fulfilled its role unless nuclear weapons are abolished and the atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, are compensated.
He said the declining number of members across the country has made it difficult to run the organization, but he wants to overcome the challenge by continuing exchanges with people who are active in different regions.
Ninety-two-year-old Tanaka Terumi, who is also the organization’s Co-Chairperson, said the devastation he saw made it clear that wars and the use of nuclear weapons must be stopped, and this is what has kept him going.
Tanaka said that despite some achievements, progress has not happened as expected, referring to the Japanese government’s non-participation in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
However, he said winning the Peace Prize will give great momentum to the movement around the world.