Hidankyo Calls for Nuclear-Free World on 70th Anniv.

Nagasaki, Aug. 10 (Jiji Press)–Officials of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, renewed their call for a world without nuclear weapons, on the 70th anniversary of its establishment Monday. At a press conference held near the hypocenter of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on the southwestern Japan city of Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka, 94, recalled the group’s founding, which he witnessed as a university student. “Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) throughout Japan started a movement with vigor,” he said. “It is the hope of hibakusha that the world should not have nuclear weapons.” “Hibakusha will all be gone eventually,” he said. “I hope that people will take over our activities, in order to get rid of nuclear (weapons) from this planet.” The press conference was attended by seven senior officials of the group, including 85-year-old co-chair Shigemitsu Tanaka. “I hope to work on spreading the message that we should never have wars,” Tanaka said. Assistant Secretary-General Michiko Kodama, 88, said, “As long as I’m alive, I want to work on passing down (stories).” In a statement, Secretary-General Jiro Hamasumi, 80, said that it was up to each and every person in the world to build a human society free of nuclear weapons and war. Vowing to push for a world free of nuclear weapons for the rest of his life, Hamasumi called on people to fight together. Japan’s only nationwide organization of hibakusha, or victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of the western Japan city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of World War II, Nihon Hidankyo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024. On Aug. 10, 1956, Nihon Hidankyo was founded in Nagasaki with a pledge to “save humanity from its crisis through the lessons learned from our experiences, while at the same time saving ourselves.” Since its establishment, Nihon Hidankyo has been working in and outside Japan to provide stories of experiences of the atomic bombings and has called for the abolition of nuclear arms. It has also pushed for state compensation for hibakusha. The group’s executives and others gathered in Nagasaki to attend a memorial ceremony hosted by the city of Nagasaki to mark the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing on the city on Sunday. With hibakusha entering their twilight years, Nihon Hidankyo will make a decision by June next year on its own direction going forward. Proposals include having so-called second-generation hibakusha, whose parents were exposed to radiation in the atomic bombings, take over the organization’s activities, or disbanding the organization once it becomes impossible for the surviving hibakusha to continue their efforts. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]