A highly symbolic Nobel Peace Prize in 2024: the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, representing the survivors of the atomic bombs, rewarded for its fierce fight for a world free of the nuclear threat. Discover their history and their crucial mission for the future of humanity…
In this year 2024 marked by numerous conflicts across the globe, the Nobel committee has chosen to reward an organization whose tireless fight for a world without nuclear weapons resonates as a call for peace: Nihon Hidankyo. Founded in Japan in 1956, this association brings together hibakushas, survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More than just a prize, this distinction recognizes decades of commitment to raising public awareness of the dangers of atomic weapons and campaigning for its definitive abolition.
Nihon Hidankyo, voice of the hibakushas
Since its creation during the 2nd World Conference against A and H bombs, Nihon Hidankyo has continued to raise the voice of the hibakushas, these men and women who have experienced hell on Earth. Beyond their fight for recognition of their rights and access to care, the members of the association have established themselves as guardians of memory and ambassadors of peace.
Drawing on their unique and traumatic experience, they travel across Japan and the world to deliver their poignant testimonies, putting faces and stories to the devastation caused by the atomic bombs. Their stories, full of emotion but also of an unwavering desire to prevent others from experiencing the same suffering, have left their mark on generations.
Hibakusha help us describe the indescribable, think the unthinkable, and somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons.
– Norwegian Nobel Committee
A constant fight against atomic weapons
Over the years, Nihon Hidankyo has intensified its advocacy actions to denounce the nuclear arms race and call for the total elimination of these weapons of mass destruction. The association notably worked for the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by the UN in 2017, a historic text even if it was not signed by the nuclear powers.
In this year of the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the award awarded to Nihon Hidankyo takes on a very special dimension. As geopolitical tensions escalate and the specter of nuclear conflict resurfaces, the message carried by the hibakushas has never been more current and urgent.
It would be a great strength to appeal to the world to make the abolition of nuclear weapons possible. Nuclear weapons absolutely must be abolished.
– Toshiyuki Mimaki, directeur de Nihon Hidankyo
A Nobel looking to the future
By honoring Nihon Hidankyo, the Nobel committee sends a strong message to the international community. He recalls the urgent need to continue diplomatic efforts in favor of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It also pays tribute to women and men who were able to transform their unspeakable suffering into a universal fight so that humanity never again experiences atomic horror.
Because beyond recognition of the past, this Nobel Peace Prize is resolutely turned towards the future. As the last hibakushas disappear, it is crucial that their message continues to resonate with younger generations. Their memory and their fight must remain as a bulwark against warlike desires and a beacon guiding people towards a pacified world free from the nuclear sword of Damocles.
In this sense, Nihon Hidankyo’s words and awareness-raising work continue to challenge us. They carry with them the promise of a future where it would never again be necessary to award a Nobel Peace Prize to try to ward off the threats weighing on humanity. A horizon towards which to strive, together, tirelessly.
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