The incredulous cry of the ‘hibakusha’ in a country that has struggled to become aware of their suffering and recognize their equal dignity. The movement’s role in the campaign to ban atomic weapons. Prime Minister Ishiba speaks of an “extremely significant” recognition, but cites nuclear deterrence as a “pragmatic response.”
Tokyo () – It is difficult to oppose the decision of the Nobel Committee that yesterday awarded the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. An important act, which not only openly mentions those who were victims of the atomic bomb in the decades that followed the dropping of the two American bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6-9, 1945), but also the constant effort of the survivors for being bearers of an unequivocal message: putting an end to the nuclear nightmare that has weighed on humanity for almost eighty years.
From the Lao capital, Vientiane, where he is on an official visit, the new Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, described the award as “extremely significant.” However, in congratulating the group’s 92-year-old Terumi Tanaka by phone today, he cited “the need for nuclear deterrence as a pragmatic response, while affirming that the abolition of atomic weapons is the ultimate goal.”
For his part, the co-president of Nihon Hidankyo and head of the Confederation of Atomic Victims’ Organizations of Hiroshima Prefecture, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, spoke of “feeling like in a dream,” underscoring his disbelief upon hearing the news with a cry “Even our predecessors will be happy about this,” he added.
Founded in 1956, the Confederation has achieved important objectives, first in the international recognition of the first covered reality of the survivors; then, urging the Japanese public to become aware of their suffering and recognize their equal dignity; finally, working for world peace that involves, above all, the annulment of nuclear arsenals. In this last aspect, they encountered a cautious and sometimes ambiguous attitude on the part of the political authority, which in the interests of consensus and the necessity dictated by international alliances rarely gave official support to their initiatives, while a large part of The hibakusha continued to live in a gray area in terms of legal protection and under a low discrimination towards them that associated shame for their defeat and their responsibility in the world conflict.
Through the Japanese media, which today have given some relevance to the award ceremony, the reaction of the survivors (only a part of the approximately 107,000 hibakusha, today mostly descendants of the first radiation victims but who endure the consequences of pollution in various ways) was one of disbelief, also due to the use of the term (hibakusha, precisely) which in Japanese highlights their victimization and which is rarely used publicly. However, the joy – more than the recognition of the situation of those who escaped immediate death, carrying physical after-effects and psychological wounds – is due to the international recognition of the movement’s role in the battle for the prohibition of atomic weapons.
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