A co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has expressed his resolve to continue talking about what happened in and after the 1945 atomic bombings.
Tanaka Terumi of the Japanese group representing the atomic bomb survivors, or hibakusha, of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Tanaka, who is 92 years old, was at his home in Nagasaki City when the atomic bomb exploded. He was 13 years old at the time.
He said he saw many dead bodies left untended near the hypocenter. He said that sight made him think that no one deserves such a cruel fate, adding that this is the basis of his firm belief.
Asked about the role Hidankyo has played, Tanaka said hibakusha have shared their experiences in various ways, such as words, pictures and songs.
But he said the Japanese government does not deny its nuclear deterrence policy because the Japanese public does not fully understand what it means to be atom-bombed. He called this his group’s biggest concern.
He said his generation is the last living age group of hibakusha, and is obliged to continue telling their stories.
He said the children of hibakusha are also victims, and that he hopes the second generation will lead young people to work toward eradicating nuclear weapons.