ATOMIC AGE REDUX
Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Japanese organization of atomic bombing survivors Nihon HidankyoARE THERE ANY SURVIVORS LEFT?!
MIKE CORDER and ELENA BECATOROS
Updated Fri, October 11, 2024
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a shift in his country’s nuclear doctrine, in a move aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons. It appeared to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Kazumi Matsui, right, mayor of Hiroshima bows, at Hiroshima Memorial Cenotaph, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Aug. 6, 2015. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.
Watne Frydnes said the Nobel committee “wishes to honor all survivors who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace.”
Hidankyo's Hiroshima branch chairperson, Tomoyuki Mimaki, who was standing by at the city hall for the announcement, cheered and teared up when he received the news.
“Is it really true? Unbelievable!” Mimaki screamed.
Efforts to eradicate nuclear weapons have been honored in the past by the Nobel committee. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the peace prize in 2017, and in 1995 Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs won for “their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms.”
This year's prize was awarded against a backdrop of devastating conflicts raging in the world, notably in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
“It is very clear that threats of using nuclear weapons are putting pressure on the important international norm, the taboo of using nuclear weapons,” Watne Frydnes said in response to a question on whether the rhetoric from Russia surrounding nuclear weapons in its invasion of Ukraine had influenced this year's decision.
“And therefore it is alarming to see how threats of use is also damaging this norm. To uphold an international strong taboo against the use is crucial for all of humanity,” he added.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that "the spectre of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still looms over humanity. This makes the advocacy of Nihon Hidankyo invaluable. This Nobel Peace Prize sends a powerful message. We have the duty to remember. And an even greater duty to protect the next generations from the horrors of nuclear war.”
Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the peace prize should be awarded for "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
Last year’s prize went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her advocacy of women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty. The Nobel committee said it also was a recognition of “the hundreds of thousands of people” who demonstrated against “Iran’s theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”
In a year of conflict, there had been some speculation before the announcement that the Norwegian Nobel Committee that decides on the winner would opt not to award a prize at all this year. The prize has been withheld a total of 19 times since 1901, including during both world wars. The last time it was not awarded was in 1972.
In the Middle East, persistently spiraling levels of violence over the past year have killed tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children and women. The war, sparked by a bloody raid into Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023 that left about 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, has spilled out into the wider region.
In the past week, Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah militants firing rockets into Israel, while Iran – which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah – fired a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel. Israel has yet to respond, but its defense minister vowed this week that its retaliation would be both devastating and surprising.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half are women and children. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed, with thousands more injured and around 1 million displaced since mid-September, when the Israeli military dramatically expanded its offensive against Hezbollah.
The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia’s invasion, is heading toward its third winter with a massive loss of human life on both sides.
The U.N. has confirmed more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilian dead, but that doesn’t take into account as many as 25,000 Ukrainians believed to have died during the Russian capture of the city of Mariupol or unreported deaths in the occupied territories.
The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize, formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
___
Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Becatoros from Athens, Greece. Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed.
Reaction to Nihon Hidankyo winning Nobel Peace Prize
Reuters
Fri, October 11, 2024 at 4:10 AM MDT·1 min read
1
Nobel Peace Prize winner 2024
(Reuters) - The Nobel Peace Prize was won by Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also known as Hibakusha.
Here is reaction to Friday's announcement:
NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE
"The Hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons."
NIHON HIDANKYO CO-CHAIR TOSHIYUKI MIMAKI
"(The win) will be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting peace can be achieved," he told a news conference in Hiroshima, site of the Aug. 6, 1945 atomic bombing during World War Two.
"Nuclear weapons should absolutely be abolished."
JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHIGERU ISHIBA
"It's extremely meaningful that the organisation that has worked toward abolishing nuclear weapons received the Nobel Peace Prize," the prime minister told a press conference in Laos.
PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OSLO
"Nihon Hidankyo's work reminds us of the devastating human cost of nuclear weapons, a message we cannot ignore. In an era where automated weapon systems and AI-driven warfare are emerging, their call for disarmament is not just historical — it is a critical message for our future. This prize highlights the need for global cooperation to steer humanity away from another world war and towards lasting global peace."
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Compiled by Alison Williams)
MIKE CORDER and ELENA BECATOROS
Updated Fri, October 11, 2024
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a shift in his country’s nuclear doctrine, in a move aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons. It appeared to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Kazumi Matsui, right, mayor of Hiroshima bows, at Hiroshima Memorial Cenotaph, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Aug. 6, 2015. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Watne Frydnes said the Nobel committee “wishes to honor all survivors who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace.”
Hidankyo's Hiroshima branch chairperson, Tomoyuki Mimaki, who was standing by at the city hall for the announcement, cheered and teared up when he received the news.
“Is it really true? Unbelievable!” Mimaki screamed.
Efforts to eradicate nuclear weapons have been honored in the past by the Nobel committee. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the peace prize in 2017, and in 1995 Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs won for “their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms.”
This year's prize was awarded against a backdrop of devastating conflicts raging in the world, notably in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
“It is very clear that threats of using nuclear weapons are putting pressure on the important international norm, the taboo of using nuclear weapons,” Watne Frydnes said in response to a question on whether the rhetoric from Russia surrounding nuclear weapons in its invasion of Ukraine had influenced this year's decision.
“And therefore it is alarming to see how threats of use is also damaging this norm. To uphold an international strong taboo against the use is crucial for all of humanity,” he added.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that "the spectre of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still looms over humanity. This makes the advocacy of Nihon Hidankyo invaluable. This Nobel Peace Prize sends a powerful message. We have the duty to remember. And an even greater duty to protect the next generations from the horrors of nuclear war.”
Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the peace prize should be awarded for "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
Last year’s prize went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her advocacy of women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty. The Nobel committee said it also was a recognition of “the hundreds of thousands of people” who demonstrated against “Iran’s theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”
In a year of conflict, there had been some speculation before the announcement that the Norwegian Nobel Committee that decides on the winner would opt not to award a prize at all this year. The prize has been withheld a total of 19 times since 1901, including during both world wars. The last time it was not awarded was in 1972.
In the Middle East, persistently spiraling levels of violence over the past year have killed tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children and women. The war, sparked by a bloody raid into Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023 that left about 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, has spilled out into the wider region.
In the past week, Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah militants firing rockets into Israel, while Iran – which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah – fired a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel. Israel has yet to respond, but its defense minister vowed this week that its retaliation would be both devastating and surprising.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says more than half are women and children. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed, with thousands more injured and around 1 million displaced since mid-September, when the Israeli military dramatically expanded its offensive against Hezbollah.
The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia’s invasion, is heading toward its third winter with a massive loss of human life on both sides.
The U.N. has confirmed more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilian dead, but that doesn’t take into account as many as 25,000 Ukrainians believed to have died during the Russian capture of the city of Mariupol or unreported deaths in the occupied territories.
The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize, formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
___
Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Becatoros from Athens, Greece. Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed.
Reaction to Nihon Hidankyo winning Nobel Peace Prize
Reuters
Fri, October 11, 2024 at 4:10 AM MDT·1 min read
1
Nobel Peace Prize winner 2024
(Reuters) - The Nobel Peace Prize was won by Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also known as Hibakusha.
Here is reaction to Friday's announcement:
NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE
"The Hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons."
NIHON HIDANKYO CO-CHAIR TOSHIYUKI MIMAKI
"(The win) will be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting peace can be achieved," he told a news conference in Hiroshima, site of the Aug. 6, 1945 atomic bombing during World War Two.
"Nuclear weapons should absolutely be abolished."
JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHIGERU ISHIBA
"It's extremely meaningful that the organisation that has worked toward abolishing nuclear weapons received the Nobel Peace Prize," the prime minister told a press conference in Laos.
PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OSLO
"Nihon Hidankyo's work reminds us of the devastating human cost of nuclear weapons, a message we cannot ignore. In an era where automated weapon systems and AI-driven warfare are emerging, their call for disarmament is not just historical — it is a critical message for our future. This prize highlights the need for global cooperation to steer humanity away from another world war and towards lasting global peace."
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Compiled by Alison Williams)
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