A Japanese organization working to eliminate nuclear weapons wins Nobel Peace Prize.
A Japanese organization consisting of survivors of the 1945 nuclear bombs that the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize on October 11. The group, Nihon Hindakyo, which was founded in 1956, sends survivors across the globe to share their stories about the suffering and damaged caused by nuclear weapons.
The group says on its website that it has member organizations in all 47 Japanese prefectures, representing almost all survivors of the bombs, known as Hibakusha. It notes that tens of thousands of Hibakusha live in Japan, while thousands more live abroad. The group’s goals, it says, are preventing nuclear war and eliminating nuclear weapons, securing state compensation for atomic bomb damages, and improving policies and measures on the protection and assistance of the Hibakusha.
Yoshiyuki Mimaki, the co-head of Nihon Hindakyo, told reporters of major international news outlets at a press conference that the award was “extremely meaningful.” Mimaki remarked, “It has been said that because of nuclear weapons, the world maintains peace. But nuclear weapons can be used by terrorists,” AFP reported.
The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee said Nihon Hindakyo had helped lead a global movement that has “worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons,” DW reported. The committee said that over time, this has helped to stigmatize nuclear weapons, making them a taboo.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui told reporters that Hibakusha are aging fast, leaving fewer and fewer people to testify to “the meaninglessness of possessing atomic bombs and their absolute evil.”
Kyoto-based environmental campaigner Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action Japan said she hoped the award would push Japan’s government to become more active in its efforts to abolish nuclear weapons around the world. “I hope everybody who hears about the Nobel Prize will urge the Japanese government to follow the lead of the hibakusha of Japan,” she told DW.
The 1945 bombings killed an estimated 135,000 people in Hiroshima, and an estimated 64,000 in Nagasaki.
Last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner was renowned Iranian women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi. Mohammadi is currently imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where she continues to fight for gender equality while behind bars. She is known for her work as the director of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), an organization banned in Iran. Last year, she went on hunger strike in solidarity with Baha’is, a persecuted religious group in the country. This year she also called for an end to the war in Gaza.
Mohammadi’s fight for human rights has been recognized by renowned global figures. Last year, Peace News Network wrote about how many leaders praised and supported Mohammadi after she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Among these were Emanuel Macron, Barak Obama, and former past recipients including Muhammad Yunus and Oleksandra Matviichuk.
Mohammadi has said that she will continue to stand for freedom and equality, even if it costs her her life. She remains firm that imprisonment, psychological torture, and solitary confinement will not stop her. To learn more about Narges Mohammadi, read here.
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is a journalist in Bangkok. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
