Nihon Hidankyo awarded Nobel Peace Prize — The Light in Oslo, Part 2: Reaffirming significance of “nuclear taboo”
Dec. 14, 2024
by Fumiyasu Miyano, Staff Writer
“The nuclear taboo” is the norm defining any use of nuclear weapons as being morally unacceptable. Nina Tannenwald, a senior lecturer at Brown University in the United States, whose name was introduced at the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony as a political scientist who advocated for the concept starting in the late 1990s, made an appeal at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum held at the University of Oslo, Norway, on December 11, the day after the ceremony. Ms. Tannenwald expressed the need to reaffirm the significance of the nuclear taboo and to continue stigmatizing nuclear weapons.
The forum was organized by the Norwegian Nobel Institute and attended by more than 200 people. Ms. Tannenwald pointed out that Russia was the first instance of repeated threats of nuclear weapons use to prevent attacks with conventional weapons. The other experts at the forum expressed their own grim views against the backdrop of the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Warning for nuclear weapons states
The significance of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), which contributed to the establishment of the nuclear taboo through its own grassroots testimony activities, is all the more meaningful now as the taboo falters. On December 9, after exchanging opinions with the Nihon Hidankyo delegation at a hotel in Oslo, Melissa Parke, executive director of the non-governmental organization (NGO) International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), asserted in an interview with the Chugoku Shimbun that the Peace Prize was an inconvenient truth for nuclear weapons states.
The more attention is focused on the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons, the less legitimate any security policy is that relies on such weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize serves as a wake-up call for nuclear weapons states, and awarding the prize to Nihon Hidankyo can be seen as an excellent opportunity to expand support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which was established with the backing of ICAN.
The Norwegian government reacted swiftly to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Nihon Hidankyo organization. Norway is a member of the “nuclear alliance” of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although that nation has not ratified the TPNW, it has participated as an observer and joined the deliberations in the past two TPNW states parties meetings.
On December 11, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre invited the three Nihon Hidankyo co-chairs to the Prime Minister’s Office. After the meeting, the prime minister held a press conference with Terumi Tanaka, 92. At the venue, decorated with one-thousand hanging folded paper cranes, he welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, saying it was a timely award ahead of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings. He asserted that, amid the tense international situation, nuclear disarmament was the starting point for dialogue.
While acknowledging that his nation’s participation in the TPNW currently faces obstacles due to NATO, he spoke of his “strong support for the objectives of the treaty.” Mr. Tanaka expressed his “great joy” at hearing the prime minister’s comment. Following the press conference, the two exchanged a firm handshake.
“Antiwar” sentiment gaining attention
In Oslo, the words and deeds of the Nihon Hidankyo organization, which rejects not only nuclear weapons but also war itself, attracted attention.
On the evening of December 10, after the award ceremony, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo who also serves as chairperson of the Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo, appeared on a live broadcast of Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern satellite television network. His comments at the time of the award ceremony, in which he noted the dire situation in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip where “scenes of children shedding blood overlaps with the situation in Japan 80 years ago,” were favorably covered by the broadcaster.
At the time, Israel’s ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, rejected Mr. Mimaki’s comments as being “inappropriate.” Nevertheless, on the same day, Mr. Mimaki asserted that, “Nuclear weapons could also be used in Gaza. The aim of our work is to end war and ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again.”
Mariette Lobo, 61, a member of a local anti-war group, expressed her joy at a social gathering organized by the NGO Peace Boat and other organizations in Oslo City on December 11. Ms. Lobo talked about how she was encouraged that A-bomb survivors were speaking out in the spotlight of world attention. The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has given people an opportunity to deepen their understanding of Nihon Hidankyo’s activities and learn about the spirit of rejecting war. That could serve as a guide for overcoming the tragedy in Gaza.
(Originally published on December 14, 2024)
“The nuclear taboo” is the norm defining any use of nuclear weapons as being morally unacceptable. Nina Tannenwald, a senior lecturer at Brown University in the United States, whose name was introduced at the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony as a political scientist who advocated for the concept starting in the late 1990s, made an appeal at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum held at the University of Oslo, Norway, on December 11, the day after the ceremony. Ms. Tannenwald expressed the need to reaffirm the significance of the nuclear taboo and to continue stigmatizing nuclear weapons.
The forum was organized by the Norwegian Nobel Institute and attended by more than 200 people. Ms. Tannenwald pointed out that Russia was the first instance of repeated threats of nuclear weapons use to prevent attacks with conventional weapons. The other experts at the forum expressed their own grim views against the backdrop of the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Warning for nuclear weapons states
The significance of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), which contributed to the establishment of the nuclear taboo through its own grassroots testimony activities, is all the more meaningful now as the taboo falters. On December 9, after exchanging opinions with the Nihon Hidankyo delegation at a hotel in Oslo, Melissa Parke, executive director of the non-governmental organization (NGO) International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), asserted in an interview with the Chugoku Shimbun that the Peace Prize was an inconvenient truth for nuclear weapons states.
The more attention is focused on the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons, the less legitimate any security policy is that relies on such weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize serves as a wake-up call for nuclear weapons states, and awarding the prize to Nihon Hidankyo can be seen as an excellent opportunity to expand support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which was established with the backing of ICAN.
The Norwegian government reacted swiftly to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Nihon Hidankyo organization. Norway is a member of the “nuclear alliance” of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although that nation has not ratified the TPNW, it has participated as an observer and joined the deliberations in the past two TPNW states parties meetings.
On December 11, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre invited the three Nihon Hidankyo co-chairs to the Prime Minister’s Office. After the meeting, the prime minister held a press conference with Terumi Tanaka, 92. At the venue, decorated with one-thousand hanging folded paper cranes, he welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, saying it was a timely award ahead of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings. He asserted that, amid the tense international situation, nuclear disarmament was the starting point for dialogue.
While acknowledging that his nation’s participation in the TPNW currently faces obstacles due to NATO, he spoke of his “strong support for the objectives of the treaty.” Mr. Tanaka expressed his “great joy” at hearing the prime minister’s comment. Following the press conference, the two exchanged a firm handshake.
“Antiwar” sentiment gaining attention
In Oslo, the words and deeds of the Nihon Hidankyo organization, which rejects not only nuclear weapons but also war itself, attracted attention.
On the evening of December 10, after the award ceremony, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo who also serves as chairperson of the Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo, appeared on a live broadcast of Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern satellite television network. His comments at the time of the award ceremony, in which he noted the dire situation in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip where “scenes of children shedding blood overlaps with the situation in Japan 80 years ago,” were favorably covered by the broadcaster.
At the time, Israel’s ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, rejected Mr. Mimaki’s comments as being “inappropriate.” Nevertheless, on the same day, Mr. Mimaki asserted that, “Nuclear weapons could also be used in Gaza. The aim of our work is to end war and ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again.”
Mariette Lobo, 61, a member of a local anti-war group, expressed her joy at a social gathering organized by the NGO Peace Boat and other organizations in Oslo City on December 11. Ms. Lobo talked about how she was encouraged that A-bomb survivors were speaking out in the spotlight of world attention. The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has given people an opportunity to deepen their understanding of Nihon Hidankyo’s activities and learn about the spirit of rejecting war. That could serve as a guide for overcoming the tragedy in Gaza.
(Originally published on December 14, 2024)
