Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group of atomic bomb survivors, awarded Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to achieve nuclear-free world
Nihon Hidankyo, an atomic bomb survivors group based in Hiroshima and Nagasaki prefectures, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons — the first time in 50 years that a Japanese recipient has been awarded the prize.
Joergen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said it awarded the organization with the honor for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
“The extraordinary efforts of Nihon Hidankyo and other representatives of the hibakusha have contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo,” said Frydnes. “It is therefore alarming that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”
The announcement comes ahead of next year’s 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings on the two cities, which killed a combined estimate of 210,000 people.
It also comes amid growing fears of the proliferation of nuclear weapons, with Russia and North Korea both repeatedly rattling their nuclear sabers.
“The nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals; new countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons; and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons in ongoing warfare,” Frydnes said. “At this moment in human history, it is worth reminding ourselves what nuclear weapons are: the most destructive weapons the world has ever seen.”
In January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said its Doomsday Clock, which measures how close the world is to global catastrophe — including the use of nuclear weapons — said the clock was at a “moment of historic danger” at "90 seconds to midnight.”
Toshiyuki Mimaki, one of the senior members of Nihon Hidankyo who had been watching the Nobel Peace Prize announcement in Hiroshima, was full of tears.
“I can’t believe it’s true,” he said, adding that he would like to continue appealing to the world for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of lasting peace, according to NHK.
There are about 107,000 atomic survivors, with their average age being 85 years old, according to government data released in March. The aging of survivors is making it challenging for people to pass on their firsthand experiences to the younger generation.
A Japanese recipient was last awarded the prize 50 years ago, with the honor going to former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, who was also the first Asian laureate, for signing a nuclear nonproliferation treaty in 1970, as well as for the Three Non-Nuclear Principles he had advocated.
In Vientiane, Laos, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba described Nihon Hidankyo’s award as “extremely meaningful.”
Nihon Hidankyo, or Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, dates back to 1956. It was originally aimed at campaigning against the 1954 Bikini Atoll hydrogen bomb test that exposed the crew of the Fukuryu Maru No. 5 to radioactive fallout.
Frydnes said the greater significance of Hidankyo’s contribution lies in the future.
“One day, the hibakusha will no longer be among us as witnesses to history. But with a strong culture of remembrance and continued commitment, new generations in Japan are carrying forward the experience and the message of the witnesses,” he said.
“They are inspiring and educating people around the world. In this way they are helping to maintain the nuclear taboo — a precondition of a peaceful future for humanity,” Frydnes added.
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Regardless of whether you are MAGA or not, I recall a time when Donald Trump asked "if we have nuclear weapons why can we not use them?" That idea by anyone gives me the chills.
DenoPenno
Level 9
Oct 12, 2024
4
The Donald is a fucking idiot.
Ryo1:
He likes saying stuff to shock others.
@Ryo1 Yeah, and the chaos that Trumpty generates does distract some people from the fact that he's actually a reckless, ignorant, incompetent, menacing, short-sighted, dangerous, self-centered, greedy, ignoble, impulsive, criminal, cowardly, egoistic, venal, thin-skinned, sociopathic, incurious, bigoted, sad, and boring little man who puffs himself up by beating down and scapegoating people far less privileged than himself.
He has never said or done anything that was truly creative, new, useful, or interesting in his miserable life. Yet he craves attention; and he gets it, for the same reason that a train wreck gets it.
If he were not so shockingly weird, who would give him a second thought?
Ryo1:
@Flyingsaucesir
In that case, how come so many people are still supporting him?
@Ryo1 That's a good question. How come people watch Jerry Springer? Or demolition derby? Or professional wrestling? It's all the same vibe. People think trump is sticking it to the man; that he's a hero gladiator fighting the deep state. They're the same people who believe Q-Anon is real; people who have not progressed intellectually beyond the age of 14. It's no coincidence that Trump's single biggest block of supporters is Evangelical Christians, people who have been trained from a young age to unquestioningly accept wacky nonsense and to never demand independently verifiable evidence for the most outrageous propositions.
Ryo1:
@Flyingsaucesir
Trump is probably a symptom of the illness American society is suffering from, though I don't know what that illness is precisely.
@Ryo1 There are many structural defects in the USA. People with power and money can work the system to their own advantage. For instance, corporations can spend vast amounts of money on lobbying Congress to deregulate their industries, which in turn torture the land, pollute the water, foul the air, displace and dispossess the powerless; hire people and promise a pension and then sell out to another company who cuts the benefits, or moves the whole operation overseas. Politicians promise lower taxes, which is great if you're rich, but if you're poor, the lower tax base means there's not enough money for universal health care. Private insurance is expensive, and if you get sick and don't have enough coverage, you can lose your house and your life savings. Trump's base is a weird coalition of people who have been left behind and want to burn down the system, Christian nationalists who want to create a theocracy, and rich business people who don't want to pay taxes. Only one of these groups, the rich, will benefit from a Trump presidency. The others have fallen under the spell of a criminal con artist and his craven cronies, and are voting against their own interests.
Ryo1:
@Flyingsaucesir Sounds very much like what's going on in the UK... 
@Ryo1 At least in the UK you have universal health care.
Ryo1:
@Flyingsaucesir
Only just. The system has been broken for a long time. Brits are not gonna give up on the principle of the national healthcare service any time soon, but we have many problems with it like staff shortages and burnout, patint backlogs, bed shortages, etc., etc. The pandemic didn't help.
@Ryo1 Our private/public hodgepodge is much more expensive and is worse by many measures.
"...Russia and North Korea both repeatedly rattling their nuclear sabers."
Russia and North Korea: two backward, repressive, countries led by cheap thugs.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
Oct 11, 2024
4
Ryo1:
And Iran's secretive nuclear program...
The US is equal with them, in nuclear weapon, Butt US is the only ones to use them
Nuclear bombs and chemical weapons are the worse thing human kind ever invented.. A reeducate in love, kindness and peace would be the well being and the opposite of military intelligence.
@Castlepaloma The US has way more nukes than North Korea. But we don't go around threatening to use them (except when DJ Trump was president).
Ryo1:
@Castlepaloma, @Flyingsaucesir
Russia has the most confirmed nuclear weapons, with approx. 5,580 nuclear warheads. The United States follows behind with 5,748 nuclear warheads, hosted in the US and 5 other nations: Turkey, Italy, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
[icanw.org]
Russian President Vladimir Putin made in an interview with state media did not constitute a threat to use them, and accused the U.S. of deliberately taking the remarks out of context.
Netanyahu did make a direct threat, to use nuclear weapon. Now he just suggests he can easily reach anyone in the middleeas
@Castlepaloma Vlad the Invader talks out of both sides of his puffy, sallow face.
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