Terumi Tanaka, a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing in 1945, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo, an anti-nuclear organisation. (AP: Kin Cheung)
In short:
A group of Japanese atomic bombing survivors have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo.
Terumi Tanaka, the co-chair of the Nobel laureate group Nihon Hidankyo, called for young people to take up their fight against nuclear weapons.
He warned that threats in Ukraine and Gaza to use nuclear weapons were undermining the group's mission of creating a nuclear-free world.
A Japanese atomic bomb survivors' group has urged young people to take up the fight for a nuclear-free world while accepting this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of survivors of the 1945 nuclear bombings of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is campaigning for a world free of nuclear weapons using witness testimony.
Nihon Hidankyo's ranks are dwindling with every year. The Japanese government lists around 106,800 survivors of the bombings, also known as "hibakusha", still alive today. Their average age is 85.
"Any one of you could become either a victim or a perpetrator, at any time," Terumi Tanaka, 92, told the audience.
"Ten years from now, there may only be a handful of us able to give testimony as firsthand survivors. From now on, I hope that the next generation will find ways to build on our efforts and develop the movement even further."
Mr Tanaka's group had "undoubtedly" played a major role in creating the worldwide standard that it was unacceptable to use atomic weapons, or 'nuclear taboo', he said. But he warned that standard was being weakened.
"In addition to the civilian casualties, I am infinitely saddened and angered that the 'nuclear taboo' risks being broken," he said.
Terumi Tanaka, Shigemitsu Tanaka, and Toshiyuki Mimaki accepted the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo. (AP: Kin Cheung)
Nihon Hidankyo was also represented at the ceremony by its two other co-chairs, Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, and Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82.
An estimated 210,000 people died, either immediately or over time, as a result of the bombs dropped in August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today's nuclear weapons are far more powerful than those used at that time.
Mr Tanaka was 13 years old at the time of the Nagasaki bombing, and although he survived the explosion almost unharmed at his home some 3km from ground zero, he lost five family members and recalled the harrowing experience.
"The deaths I witnessed at that time could hardly be described as human deaths. There were hundreds of people suffering in agony, unable to receive any kind of medical attention," Mr Tanaka told the audience.
"I strongly felt that even in war, such killing and maiming must never be allowed to happen."
Group warns of nuclear weapon threats
Mr Tanaka expressed concern over threats to use nuclear weapons in the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
"There still remain 12,000 nuclear warheads on Earth today, 4,000 of which are operationally deployed, ready for immediate launch," Mr Tanaka said.
In 2017, 122 governments negotiated and adopted the historic UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), but the text is considered largely symbolic as no nuclear power has signed it.
Ambassadors from Russia, China, Israel, and Iran were not present at the ceremony.
(AP: Kin Cheung)
While all ambassadors stationed in Oslo were invited to Tuesday's ceremony, the only nuclear powers in attendance were Britain, France, India, Pakistan and the United States. Russia, China, Israel and Iran were not present, the Nobel Institute said.
Expressing concern about the world entering "a new, more unstable nuclear age", Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes warned that "a nuclear war could destroy our civilisation".
"Today's nuclear weapons ... have far greater destructive power than the two bombs used against Japan in 1945. They could kill millions of us in an instant, injure even more, and disrupt the climate catastrophically," Mr Frydnes said.
Reuters/AFP
While all ambassadors stationed in Oslo were invited to Tuesday's ceremony, the only nuclear powers in attendance were Britain, France, India, Pakistan and the United States. Russia, China, Israel and Iran were not present, the Nobel Institute said.
Expressing concern about the world entering "a new, more unstable nuclear age", Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes warned that "a nuclear war could destroy our civilisation".
"Today's nuclear weapons ... have far greater destructive power than the two bombs used against Japan in 1945. They could kill millions of us in an instant, injure even more, and disrupt the climate catastrophically," Mr Frydnes said.
Reuters/AFP
Nobel laureate warns Putin about danger of nuclear weapons
By AFP
December 9, 2024
Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and 74,000 in Nagasaki three days later, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities © JIJI Press/AFP STR
Pierre-Henry DESHAYES
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Japan’s atomic bomb survivors’ group Nihon Hidankyo, on Monday urged Russia to stop issuing nuclear threats in a bid to prevail in its war in Ukraine.
“President Putin, I don’t think he truly understands what nuclear weapons are for human beings,” said Terumi Tanaka, the 92-year-old co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo and a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
“I don’t think he has even thought about this,” Tanaka told a press conference in Oslo a day before he was due to accept the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, with two other co-chairs, at a formal ceremony in Oslo on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo.
Putin began making nuclear threats shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and signed a decree in late November lowering the threshold for using atomic weapons.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Thursday that Moscow was ready to use “any means” to defend itself.
On November 21, Moscow fired its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in an escalation of the almost three-year war.
Terumi Tanaka said Russia should stop issuing nuclear threats – Copyright AFP Odd ANDERSEN
The missile is designed to be equipped with a nuclear warhead, but was not in this case.
“Mr Putin… we would like to say that nuclear weapons are things which must never be used. The use of nuclear weapons is something which would be against humanity,” Tanaka said.
Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots anti-nuclear organisation, was established in 1956 and is the only nationwide organisation of atomic bomb survivors, who are known as hibakusha.
Around 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima when the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city on August 6, 1945.
A further 74,000 were killed by a US nuclear bomb in Nagasaki three days later.
Survivors suffered from radiation sickness and longer-term effects, including elevated risks of cancer.
The bombings were the only times nuclear weapons have been used in history.
Tanaka, who was 13 and living in Nagasaki when the bomb was dropped, said Nihon Hidankyo was not seeking “monetary compensation” from Washington.
“What we would like to see from the United States is for them to abolish their nuclear weapons,” he said.
The organisation’s ranks are dwindling with every passing year. The Japanese government lists around 106,800 “hibakusha” still alive today. Their average age is 85.
– Nuclear taboo –
The three co-chairs of Nihon Hidankyo formally receive their prestigious prize at Oslo’s City Hall on Tuesday.
“Our message to Putin and also to other nuclear power states is, ‘Listen to the testimonies of the hibakusha’,” said the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes.
“It is crucial for humanity to uphold the nuclear taboo, to stigmatise these weapons as morally unacceptable,” he said.
“And to threaten with them is one way of reducing the significance of the taboo, and it should not be done,” he added.
“And of course, to use them should never be done ever again by any nation on Earth.”
Nine countries now have nuclear weapons: Britain, China, France, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United States, and, unofficially, Israel.
As global geopolitical tensions rise, these nuclear powers have modernised their arsenals, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report in June.
In January, of the estimated 12,121 nuclear warheads around the world, about 9,585 were in stockpiles for potential use, according to SIPRI.
In 2017, 122 governments negotiated and adopted the historic UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), but the text is considered largely symbolic as no nuclear power has signed it.
“Of course, the nuclear weapon states will resist this,” Tanaka said, urging citizens in these countries “to show them that their resistance is wrong”.
“We want to create a world that is free from both nuclear weapons and from war.”
By AFP
December 9, 2024
Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and 74,000 in Nagasaki three days later, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities © JIJI Press/AFP STR
Pierre-Henry DESHAYES
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Japan’s atomic bomb survivors’ group Nihon Hidankyo, on Monday urged Russia to stop issuing nuclear threats in a bid to prevail in its war in Ukraine.
“President Putin, I don’t think he truly understands what nuclear weapons are for human beings,” said Terumi Tanaka, the 92-year-old co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo and a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
“I don’t think he has even thought about this,” Tanaka told a press conference in Oslo a day before he was due to accept the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, with two other co-chairs, at a formal ceremony in Oslo on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo.
Putin began making nuclear threats shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and signed a decree in late November lowering the threshold for using atomic weapons.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Thursday that Moscow was ready to use “any means” to defend itself.
On November 21, Moscow fired its new Oreshnik hypersonic missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in an escalation of the almost three-year war.
Terumi Tanaka said Russia should stop issuing nuclear threats – Copyright AFP Odd ANDERSEN
The missile is designed to be equipped with a nuclear warhead, but was not in this case.
“Mr Putin… we would like to say that nuclear weapons are things which must never be used. The use of nuclear weapons is something which would be against humanity,” Tanaka said.
Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots anti-nuclear organisation, was established in 1956 and is the only nationwide organisation of atomic bomb survivors, who are known as hibakusha.
Around 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima when the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city on August 6, 1945.
A further 74,000 were killed by a US nuclear bomb in Nagasaki three days later.
Survivors suffered from radiation sickness and longer-term effects, including elevated risks of cancer.
The bombings were the only times nuclear weapons have been used in history.
Tanaka, who was 13 and living in Nagasaki when the bomb was dropped, said Nihon Hidankyo was not seeking “monetary compensation” from Washington.
“What we would like to see from the United States is for them to abolish their nuclear weapons,” he said.
The organisation’s ranks are dwindling with every passing year. The Japanese government lists around 106,800 “hibakusha” still alive today. Their average age is 85.
– Nuclear taboo –
The three co-chairs of Nihon Hidankyo formally receive their prestigious prize at Oslo’s City Hall on Tuesday.
“Our message to Putin and also to other nuclear power states is, ‘Listen to the testimonies of the hibakusha’,” said the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes.
“It is crucial for humanity to uphold the nuclear taboo, to stigmatise these weapons as morally unacceptable,” he said.
“And to threaten with them is one way of reducing the significance of the taboo, and it should not be done,” he added.
“And of course, to use them should never be done ever again by any nation on Earth.”
Nine countries now have nuclear weapons: Britain, China, France, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United States, and, unofficially, Israel.
As global geopolitical tensions rise, these nuclear powers have modernised their arsenals, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report in June.
In January, of the estimated 12,121 nuclear warheads around the world, about 9,585 were in stockpiles for potential use, according to SIPRI.
In 2017, 122 governments negotiated and adopted the historic UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), but the text is considered largely symbolic as no nuclear power has signed it.
“Of course, the nuclear weapon states will resist this,” Tanaka said, urging citizens in these countries “to show them that their resistance is wrong”.
“We want to create a world that is free from both nuclear weapons and from war.”
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