The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.
The Nobel committee said it "wishes to honor all survivors who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace."
Hidankyo's Hiroshima branch chairperson, Tomoyuki Mimaki, who was waiting at the city hall for the announcement, cheered and became emotional when he received the news.
"Is it really true? Unbelievable!" Mimaki screamed.
The Nobel committee has honored efforts to ban nuclear weapons before. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the peace prize in 2017, and in 1995 Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs won for their efforts to reduce and ban nuclear weapons.
War continues
This year's prize was awarded as war continues in Ukraine.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a change in his country's nuclear policy. The change appeared to make it easier for Russia to use nuclear weapons if attacked.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes is chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. He said Friday the award was made as the ban “against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure."
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media that the results of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still affect humanity. The United States bombed those two Japanese cities using atomic weapons to end World War II in 1945.
Von der Layen said the work of Nihon Hidankyo is very important. “This Nobel Peace Prize sends a powerful message. We have the duty to remember. And an even greater duty to protect the next generations from the horrors of nuclear war," she said.
The United States military dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. An estimated 70,000 people died. Three days earlier, U.S. forces had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths. The bombings resulted in Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945, bringing World War II to an end.
Survivors of the atomic bombs and victims of nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific formed the group, Nihon Hidankyo, in 1956. At the time, the survivors were demanding government support for health problems.
A ‘clear and present danger’
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement that the survivors selflessly brought attention to the human cost of nuclear weapons.
"Nuclear weapons remain a clear and present danger to humanity, once again appearing in the daily rhetoric of international relations," he added. "It is time for world leaders to be as clear-eyed as the hibakusha, and see nuclear weapons for what they are: devices of death that offer no safety, protection, or security." Hibakusha is a Japanese word that refers to survivors of the atomic bombs or the radiation they caused.
Alfred Nobel wrote that the peace prize should be awarded for "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
Sometimes there is no peace prize
Last year's prize went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her work supporting women's rights and democracy, and against punishment by death.
In times of war, the Norwegian Nobel Committee sometimes chooses not to award a peace prize. The peace prize was not awarded 19 times since 1901, including during both world wars. The last time it was not awarded was in 1972.
The Nobel prizes are valued at about $1 million. The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize.
I’m Jill Robbins.
