Bomb survivors use Nobel Peace Prize winnings to spread anti-nuclear message world news

Having had the honor of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, we now have the responsibility to convey our message not only to Japan but to the entire world.

The honor recognizes members' grassroots efforts to tell their stories, even though it involves recalling terrible experiences during and after the bombing and facing discrimination and health concerns due to the chronic effects of radiation, with the sole goal of never prevent something like this from happening again.

Today, with an average age of 85.6, hibakusha are increasingly frustrated that younger generations do not fully understand their fears of the growing nuclear threat and pressure to eliminate nuclear weapons.

The number of prefectural hibakusha groups dropped from 47 to 36. And the Japanese government, under the American nuclear umbrella for protection, refused to sign the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty.

However, the Nobel Committee noted that there is hope and a youth movement appears to be beginning.

Three high school students accompanied Mimaki to City Hall, standing by his side as the award winner was announced and vowing to continue his cause.

When I heard the announcement, I got goosebumps,” said Wakana Tsukuda. I felt discouraged by the negative view of nuclear disarmament, but the Nobel Peace Prize renewed my commitment to working towards the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Natsuki Kai, another high school student, said: “I will continue to strive so that we can believe that nuclear disarmament is not a dream but a reality.”

In Nagasaki, another group of students celebrated Hidankyo's victory. Yuka Ohara, 17, thanked the survivors for their year-long efforts despite the difficulties. Ohara said she heard her grandparents, who survived the Nagasaki bombing, repeatedly tell her the importance of peace in everyday life. As I continue my business, I want to learn more.”

In April, a group of people founded the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons network, connecting young generations across the country to work with survivors and continue their efforts.

In recent years, efforts to document the stories and voices of survivors have increased across Japan, including in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Tokyo. In some places, young volunteers work with hibakusha to achieve success by telling their personal stories.

The first American atomic bombing on Hiroshima killed 140,000 people. The second atomic attack on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, killed another 70,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending nearly half a century of aggression in Asia.

Hidankyo was created 11 years later, in 1956. There was a growing anti-nuclear movement in Japan in response to American tests of the hydrogen bomb in the Pacific, which resulted in a series of exposures of Japanese boats to radiation, increasing demands for government assistance for health problems. .

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, as of March, 106,823 survivors had been certified eligible for government medical assistance, down from 6,824 fewer than a year earlier and nearly a quarter of the total number in the 1980s. These, including many others, are still unfounded, claiming that the radioactive accident occurred outside the originally designated area of ​​Hiroshima and Nagasaki.