By Driss El-Hassan and Jerry Ginsberg<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On October 11th, Chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee J\u00f8rgen Watne Frydnes announced the Nobel Peace Prize Award of 2024 was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, also known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. Nihon Hidankyo is a peace organization that lobbies both the Japanese government and governments internationally in the interest of abolishing nuclear weapons on a global scale. Nihon Hidankyo represents over 170,000 hibakusha<\/em>, a term referring to those who survived the atomic detonations over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nihon Hidankyo was founded by hibakusha who were inspired by the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, an organization founded as a response to a tuna-fishing boat and its crew being contaminated from radiation fallout from the US\u2019s Castle Bravo H-bomb test near Bikini Atoll in 1954. Mimaki criticized the Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip and emphasized, “the situation in Gaza now, like in Japan 80 years ago\u0085 Especially in places like Israel and Gaza, children are being covered in blood and living every day without food, having their schools destroyed, stations destroyed and bridges destroyed,” he said, appearing to fight back tears. \u201cThe people are wishing for peace. But politicians insist on waging war, saying, ‘We won’t stop until we win.\u201c’ Therefore, the work of an organization that emphasizes the importance of abolishing nuclear weapons worldwide is particularly important at this time, as it helps dissuade nuclear weapons usage and preserve our planet and its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Driss El-Hassan and Jerry Ginsberg On October 11th, Chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee J\u00f8rgen Watne Frydnes announced the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[31],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n
Since 1956, Nihon Hidankyo has played an instrumental role throughout Japanese history as a voice for those hibakusha living both in and outside Japan. Today, Nihon Hidankyo represents the majority of organized hibakusha worldwide.
Tomiyuko Mimaki, the organization’s representative, said at a press conference after the win that the awarding of the prize will give strength to the struggle for eternal peace. “Nuclear weapons should be completely abolished,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prize committee also noted that in recent years it seems that the taboo created around the use of atomic weapons is beginning to be undermined. The committee stated “the nuclear powers are renewing and upgrading their stockpiles of weapons, new countries are working to obtain nuclear capabilities, and others are threatening to use nuclear weapons in combat.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n