Latest news with #Nihon Hidankyo
Japan Times
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Hibakusha's stories will change the world, Nobel committee chair says
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes has emphasized that the testimonies of hibakusha, or people who survived the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will bring changes to the world. "Their story is also a story of memory becoming a force for change," he told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday. He, therefore, highlighted the historic importance of activities of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, which won last year's Nobel Peace Prize. Frydnes visited the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki last week, ahead of the 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of the cities on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, in the closing days of World War II. Noting that he was the first member of the committee to visit the country of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Frydnes said, "We walked through places that changed the course of human history." He stressed the importance of maintaining nuclear taboo, saying that the atomic bombings created "an international norm that ... any use of nuclear weapons is not only dangerous, but deeply and morally unacceptable." While Nihon Hidankyo has been working for the abolition of nuclear weapons, Japan is protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. On this, Frydnes said, "I don't think fear (of nuclear weapons) is the solutions to our problems," adding, "The hibakusha clearly shows that it is possible, even though in a situation of pain, sorrow, (and) grief, to choose peace, and that's the message we want the world to listen to."
Japan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Nobel committee chair calls for listening to voices of Hibakusha
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes delivered a speech at Sophia University in Tokyo on Sunday, highlighting the need to listen to the voices of hibakusha, who survived the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hibakusha are "not only victims of war" but also "witnesses and teachers," Frydnes, 40, said during the Nobel Peace Prize Conference, hosted by the Norwegian Nobel Institute, which serves as the secretariat of the committee. "You (hibakusha) have turned ashes into testimony and testimony into global awareness. Over time, an international norm took shape ... that stigmatizes the use of nuclear weapons as morally unacceptable. That norm is often referred to as the nuclear taboo," the committee chair noted. "The taboo is fragile, and memory fades. That is why we must listen (to the voices of hibakusha), especially now," he added. As the world is "at the edge of a new, more unstable nuclear age," Frydnes said, "We must return to the truth at the heart of the hibakusha's message." "We know that survivors are aging. Time is precious. That makes the task of preservation (of hibakusha's memories) even more sacred," he also said. Emphasizing the importance of passing on hibakusha's memories, Frydnes called young people the "future custodians" of those memories. Frydnes is visiting Japan after the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, and before the 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, respectively. According to Frydnes, he is the first from the committee to visit the country of a winner of the prize. The Nobel committee chair visited the two atomic-bombed cities earlier this month, laying flowers at the cenotaphs for the victims and interacting with hibakusha. During the conference on Sunday, Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka, 92, expressed hope that people in the next generation will continue the group's activities.
NHK
6 days ago
- Politics
- NHK
Japanese peace groups issue statement ahead of 80th anniversary of A-bombings
Three Japanese groups that are calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons have stressed the need for Japan and the rest of the world to convey the inhumanity of nuclear arms ahead of next month's 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which represents survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and two other groups, the Japan Council against A & H Bombs and Gensuikin, released a joint statement on Wednesday. The statement said that the world today is in a critical situation, which can be described as being on the verge of collapse amid the mounting threat of the use of nuclear weapons and the rising dependence on nuclear deterrence. The groups criticized the stance of the Japanese government, which has yet to sign or ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons although Japan is the only country in the world to suffer atomic bombings. The statement insists that the movement in Japan is playing an even greater role today amid the rising threat of the use of nuclear arms. The statement says that in order to fulfill its responsibility, it is of foremost importance for Japan to pass on the reality of the atomic bombings and convey the inhumanity of nuclear arms with the rest of the world. Terumi Tanaka, co-chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo said, "In light of past situations, the world today is undergoing an extremely difficult time." And he hopes "the statement will help promote to the world the call to abolish nuclear weapons."
Japan Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Nuclear deterrence 'cannot save humanity,' Nihon Hidankyo member says
Nuclear deterrence "cannot save humanity," a senior member of a group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors said in a video speech at a meeting of scientists in Chicago on Wednesday. In the speech delivered in English, Masako Wada, assistant secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, urged policymakers around the world to "take the leadership ... toward human society free of nuclear weapons." Wada stressed that members of Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, will work to stimulate public opinion by talking to young people and sharing their own experiences. She criticized the emerging idea of nuclear sharing, in which U.S. nuclear weapons would be deployed in Japan, saying that it may make Japan, the only country to have been attacked with atomic bombs, "become an aggressor." Professor David Gross of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, said that Wada's speech was very moving and made him realize that what he and other scientists are discussing is a matter of human life. The meeting was attended by prominent scientists. Many of them voiced concern about the increasing risk of nuclear proliferation, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Iran-Israel conflict.
