Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Japan nuclear bombs survivors

The Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. This honor serves as a powerful reminder to nuclear-armed nations to never use such weapons.

Nihon Hidankyo, also known as Hibakusha, represents survivors of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in conflict. The group has spent decades advocating for a nuclear-free world. 

"Hibakusha is receiving the Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for providing witness testimony that demonstrates the devastating impact of these weapons," stated the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The committee emphasized that the survivors help convey the unimaginable horrors of nuclear warfare. "The Hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, think the unthinkable, and grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons," the committee said.

Joergen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, urged nuclear-armed nations to reconsider any potential use of such weapons, noting the far greater destructive power of today’s arsenals. "A nuclear war could kill millions, wreak havoc on the global climate, and destroy civilization," he warned.

Frydnes also praised the Hibakusha for their efforts in establishing what he referred to as the "nuclear taboo." He expressed concern, however, that this taboo is now under pressure.

Next year marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States in August 1945.

The Nobel Peace Prize, which has often highlighted the issue of nuclear weapons, was last awarded in this context to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in 2017. This year’s prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1 million), will be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the awards.