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A-bomb survivor to attend Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony

by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writer

Emiko Okada, 78, an A-bomb survivor and resident of Higashi Ward, Hiroshima, will attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, Norway on December 10. The Hiroshima Nagasaki Hibakusha Project, consisting mainly of university professors and headed by Kenji Abe, an associate professor at Toin University of Yokohama, made a request to the Nobel Committee to invite hibakusha, A-bomb survivors, as “contributors to the nuclear abolition movement.” They received an invitation letter dated August 2.

When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Ms. Okada was eight years old. That morning she was approximately 2.8 kilometers from the hypocenter. She has been active in sharing her experience of the atomic bombing with others. Although an individual A-bomb survivor and Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in this milestone year marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing, they were not eventually selected. Ms. Okada said, “I’ll bring photos and the English explanation about the effects of the atomic bomb to Norway, and I’d like to convey what happened under the mushroom cloud if I’m given the chance to do so.”

From Nagasaki, Shohei Tsuiki, 88, a retired junior high school teacher who was active in peace education, will attend the ceremony. Although the two A-bomb survivors are not expected to deliver a speech, they will take part in a press conference in Oslo on December 11. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 was given to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet.

(Originally published on November 19, 2015)

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