Nihon Hidankyo awarded Nobel Peace Prize — The Light in Oslo, Part 3: Young people carry on passion of A-bomb survivors
Dec. 16, 2024
by Michio Shimotaka, Staff Writer
“Some people say that activities by high school students won’t lead to the elimination of nuclear weapons, but I also hear from people who say that we must learn from the past and act. Our activities strike a chord in some people.” Those words were spoken by Natsuki Kai, 17, a High School Peace Ambassador and second-year student at Motomachi High School who lives in Hiroshima City’s Nishi Ward, at a meeting among A-bomb survivors and young people held in Oslo, Norway, on December 11. Before an audience of 85 people, Ms. Kai spoke about her commitment to working toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Ms. Kai, who regularly engages in such activities as signature-collection campaigns, visited Oslo during the period December 8–12 together with three other peace ambassadors from Kyushu. During their visit, they attended the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony for the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and, at a local high school, gave a presentation on the devastation caused by the atomic bombings and other issues.
On December 11, in a square where an anti-war gathering and other events were scheduled to take place, the group viewed an A-bombed stone that Hiroshima City had presented to Oslo City in 1995. Gunnar Johnsen, 33, general manager of the local anti-nuclear group called “No to Nuclear Weapons” who accompanied the visitors, showed interest in the ambassadors’ activities, repeatedly asking questions. Mr. Johnsen considered it significant that, alongside the A-bomb survivors, young people are positioned right at the center of the fight to eliminate nuclear weapons.
The average age of A-bomb survivors is now more than 85 years old. Opportunities overseas to share their experiences in the atomic bombings, one of the pillars of Nihon Hidankyo’s activities, which began in earnest in the late 1970s, have declined in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nihon Hidankyo only sent four delegates to the 2022 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Livestreaming with smartphone
In addition to the delegation from the Nihon Hidankyo organization, a total of around 30 A-bomb survivors made the flight to the frigid Nordic country for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony as part of a project organized by the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Peace Boat. The group also included young people who are attempting to convey the passion of the A-bomb survivors in the hopes it will lead to growth of the movement.
Hideo Asano, 28, a member of the general incorporated association called “Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” who has participated in the activities of Peace Boat and other organizations, livestreamed the meeting on December 11 from a hotel lobby using his smartphone. With around 15 people in their teens and up to their 90s in attendance at the event, Kunihiko Sakuma, 80, chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, called on the audience to think about the role that the A-bombed city of Hiroshima should play in the effort to abolish nuclear weapons.
According to Mr. Asano, such efforts started to become more noticeable around the 2022 meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). He said, “With younger generations filling in for the A-bomb survivors in areas we find difficult to handle on our own, we hope to join forces across generations.”
Change of heart
The Nobel Peace Prize captured the attention of Oslo’s young people. More than 200 students gathered for a lecture at the University of Oslo by the co-chairs of Nihon Hidankyo. Comments from students included, “I was moved to see on television elderly A-bomb survivors making desperate appeals for the abolition of nuclear weapons” and, “Imagining the situation is completely different from actually hearing about it.”
Sven Bjarne Les Lothek, 25, a business school student, said that was the first time for him to be conscious of the long-term psychological effects of the atomic bombings. He had believed there was no choice but to rely on nuclear deterrence provided by NATO as a counter to Russia, but he confessed to a change of heart, saying that the appeal made by the A-bomb survivors to end the cycle of violence had left a lasting impression on him.
In his remarks at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, 40, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, encouraged the audience by saying, “We all have a duty to fulfil the mission of the Hibakusha. It is now our turn.” The light to illuminate the way to a peaceful world without war and nuclear weapons, ceaselessly held aloft by the Nihon Hidankyo organization and A-bomb survivors, shone particularly bright in Oslo and was unmistakenly entrusted to young people.
(Originally published on December 16, 2024)
“Some people say that activities by high school students won’t lead to the elimination of nuclear weapons, but I also hear from people who say that we must learn from the past and act. Our activities strike a chord in some people.” Those words were spoken by Natsuki Kai, 17, a High School Peace Ambassador and second-year student at Motomachi High School who lives in Hiroshima City’s Nishi Ward, at a meeting among A-bomb survivors and young people held in Oslo, Norway, on December 11. Before an audience of 85 people, Ms. Kai spoke about her commitment to working toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Ms. Kai, who regularly engages in such activities as signature-collection campaigns, visited Oslo during the period December 8–12 together with three other peace ambassadors from Kyushu. During their visit, they attended the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony for the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and, at a local high school, gave a presentation on the devastation caused by the atomic bombings and other issues.
On December 11, in a square where an anti-war gathering and other events were scheduled to take place, the group viewed an A-bombed stone that Hiroshima City had presented to Oslo City in 1995. Gunnar Johnsen, 33, general manager of the local anti-nuclear group called “No to Nuclear Weapons” who accompanied the visitors, showed interest in the ambassadors’ activities, repeatedly asking questions. Mr. Johnsen considered it significant that, alongside the A-bomb survivors, young people are positioned right at the center of the fight to eliminate nuclear weapons.
The average age of A-bomb survivors is now more than 85 years old. Opportunities overseas to share their experiences in the atomic bombings, one of the pillars of Nihon Hidankyo’s activities, which began in earnest in the late 1970s, have declined in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nihon Hidankyo only sent four delegates to the 2022 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Livestreaming with smartphone
In addition to the delegation from the Nihon Hidankyo organization, a total of around 30 A-bomb survivors made the flight to the frigid Nordic country for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony as part of a project organized by the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Peace Boat. The group also included young people who are attempting to convey the passion of the A-bomb survivors in the hopes it will lead to growth of the movement.
Hideo Asano, 28, a member of the general incorporated association called “Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” who has participated in the activities of Peace Boat and other organizations, livestreamed the meeting on December 11 from a hotel lobby using his smartphone. With around 15 people in their teens and up to their 90s in attendance at the event, Kunihiko Sakuma, 80, chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, called on the audience to think about the role that the A-bombed city of Hiroshima should play in the effort to abolish nuclear weapons.
According to Mr. Asano, such efforts started to become more noticeable around the 2022 meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). He said, “With younger generations filling in for the A-bomb survivors in areas we find difficult to handle on our own, we hope to join forces across generations.”
Change of heart
The Nobel Peace Prize captured the attention of Oslo’s young people. More than 200 students gathered for a lecture at the University of Oslo by the co-chairs of Nihon Hidankyo. Comments from students included, “I was moved to see on television elderly A-bomb survivors making desperate appeals for the abolition of nuclear weapons” and, “Imagining the situation is completely different from actually hearing about it.”
Sven Bjarne Les Lothek, 25, a business school student, said that was the first time for him to be conscious of the long-term psychological effects of the atomic bombings. He had believed there was no choice but to rely on nuclear deterrence provided by NATO as a counter to Russia, but he confessed to a change of heart, saying that the appeal made by the A-bomb survivors to end the cycle of violence had left a lasting impression on him.
In his remarks at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, 40, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, encouraged the audience by saying, “We all have a duty to fulfil the mission of the Hibakusha. It is now our turn.” The light to illuminate the way to a peaceful world without war and nuclear weapons, ceaselessly held aloft by the Nihon Hidankyo organization and A-bomb survivors, shone particularly bright in Oslo and was unmistakenly entrusted to young people.
(Originally published on December 16, 2024)
