Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyo wins Nobel Peace Prize for work on nuclear weapons abolition

Image of the Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyo, winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. Photo / NTB via AFP

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organisation of atomic bomb survivors, for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.

The group received the prize for “demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again”, Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said – a much-needed reminder at a time of globally destabilising wars and growing concern about nuclear proliferation.

Nihon Hidankyo, founded 11 years after the end of World War II, represents survivors of the US atomic bombings that obliterated much of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of people. Japan is the only country on which nuclear weapons have been used.

The survivors, known as Hibakusha, share their testimonies to highlight the horrific repercussions of nuclear warfare. Nihon Hidankyo has been a leading voice in preserving their stories and advocating for compensation for the survivors and their families.

They “help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons,” Frydnes said in his announcement. He said Nihon Hidankyo’s “extraordinary efforts” have “contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo”, leading to a world where no nuclear weapons have been used in war for nearly 80 years.

“Never did I dream that this could happen,” Toshiyuki Mimaki, co-head of the group, said at a news conference in Hiroshima after the award was announced. “It is a realisation towards nuclear abolition and lasting peace.”

People visit the A-bomb Dome in Hiroshima City on October 11, 2024. Photo / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP

The 81-year-old also issued a plea to the world to “eliminate nuclear weapons while we are still alive. This is the wish of the 114,000 A-bomb survivors.”

Mimaki was just 3 years old when he survived the bombing in Hiroshima. He drew attention to the plight of children amid Israel’s war in Gaza, the enclave that UN officials have described as a “graveyard for children”.

“The world is in a difficult situation right now. We must continue to make further efforts moving forward,” Mimaki said. “There were a lot of children who grew up as orphans after the atomic bombing, and right now children in Gaza are suffering.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba congratulated the organisation and said it was “extremely significant” that the group was being honoured for its work over the years.

The Nobel Committee has previously honoured efforts toward eradicating nuclear weapons, awarding the 2017 prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. In 1995, British physicist Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs won for their efforts to end the nuclear arms race.

With this year’s prize – and with nuclear threats looming over the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East – the Nobel Committee made an appeal to countries around the world that are upgrading their arsenals or preparing to acquire nuclear weapons.

“At this moment in human history, it is worth reminding ourselves what nuclear weapons are – the most destructive weapon the world has ever seen,” Frydnes said.

“When we look at the developments and the conflicts around the world, we see how crucial it is to uphold a nuclear taboo, to uphold the norm,” he told reporters, adding that it was “alarming” to see that norm threatened.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an arms research group, said this year that nuclear weapons have not played such a prominent role in international politics since the Cold War, as the world’s nine nuclear-armed states – which include the United States and Russia – continue to modernise their arsenals.

Dialogue between Moscow and Washington on nuclear arms control has all but ground to a halt in recent years, while the use of nuclear blackmail has spiralled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a nuclear threat against the West and Ukraine last month, indicating that any country’s conventional attack on Russia that was supported by a nuclear power would be perceived as a joint attack.

The announcement followed a flurry of nuclear-related threats from Moscow in the face of Kyiv’s requests to the United States and other allies to lift restrictions on Ukrainian missile strikes inside Russia.

Meanwhile, as tensions between Israel and Iran soar, US officials have expressed concern that Israel may seize an opportunity to attack Iran’s uranium-enrichment facilities after Tehran’s attack on Israel this month, The Washington Post has reported. Analysts also say there are growing fears that Tehran’s setbacks could move it closer to considering the use of a nuclear weapon.

As established by Alfred Nobel in his will, the peace prize recognises contributions to the “fraternity between nations”. Winners have included those directly involved in peace negotiations, as well as individuals and groups that have worked to promote human rights, democracy, arms control and climate action.

Arguably the most prominent of the Nobel awards, the peace prize – consisting of a medal, diploma and 11 million Swedish kroner (about $1 million) – will be awarded at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.

Last year’s honour was awarded to imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, while the 2022 prize went to human rights activists and organisations in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

Henrik Urdal, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said Friday that as automated weapons and AI-driven warfare emerge, the prize given to Nihon Hidankyo and its “call for disarmament is not just historical – it is a critical message for our future”.