Nihon Hidankyo awarded Nobel Peace Prize: Nobel Peace Center introduces hibakusha movement through “A Message to Humanity” exhibition
Dec. 10, 2024
OSLO — by Fumiyasu Miyano, Staff Writer
On December 9, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway opened to the media a special exhibition titled “A Message to Humanity,” which was planned in conjunction with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo). With photographs taken on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and materials related to Nihon Hidankyo’s activities, the exhibition introduces the path of the A-bomb survivor (hibakusha) movement.
The exhibition begins with a photo of the Hiroshima mushroom cloud and conveys the suffering of Hiroshima’s citizens. Exhibited items also include two photos taken by Yoshito Matsushige a former staff photographer at the Chugoku Shimbun who died in 2005 at the age of 92, in the vicinity of Miyuki Bridge in Hiroshima City on August 6, 1945. The Peace Center’s Executive Director Kjersti Fløgstad, 62, emphasized that the photos pointedly show why nuclear weapons should never be used again.
The Hidankyo organization and developments in international politics involving nuclear weapons are introduced in a chronological table. A copy of the declaration “Message to the World,” issued when Nihon Hidankyo held its inaugural meeting in 1956, and photos of A-bomb survivors today are also on display. Visitors can pick up “A-bomb drawings” created by hibakusha that are printed in postcard size. An installation created by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma expresses A-bomb survivor testimonies through a combination of two wood pieces.
Ms. Fløgstad shared her expectations for the exhibition, saying she hoped that those who see it would become the next messengers. The exhibition will be open to the public starting December 12 until November of next year.
(Originally published on December 10, 2024)
On December 9, the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway opened to the media a special exhibition titled “A Message to Humanity,” which was planned in conjunction with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo). With photographs taken on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and materials related to Nihon Hidankyo’s activities, the exhibition introduces the path of the A-bomb survivor (hibakusha) movement.
The exhibition begins with a photo of the Hiroshima mushroom cloud and conveys the suffering of Hiroshima’s citizens. Exhibited items also include two photos taken by Yoshito Matsushige a former staff photographer at the Chugoku Shimbun who died in 2005 at the age of 92, in the vicinity of Miyuki Bridge in Hiroshima City on August 6, 1945. The Peace Center’s Executive Director Kjersti Fløgstad, 62, emphasized that the photos pointedly show why nuclear weapons should never be used again.
The Hidankyo organization and developments in international politics involving nuclear weapons are introduced in a chronological table. A copy of the declaration “Message to the World,” issued when Nihon Hidankyo held its inaugural meeting in 1956, and photos of A-bomb survivors today are also on display. Visitors can pick up “A-bomb drawings” created by hibakusha that are printed in postcard size. An installation created by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma expresses A-bomb survivor testimonies through a combination of two wood pieces.
Ms. Fløgstad shared her expectations for the exhibition, saying she hoped that those who see it would become the next messengers. The exhibition will be open to the public starting December 12 until November of next year.
(Originally published on December 10, 2024)
