Group Of Japan’s Atomic Bombing Survivors Wins Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons, Mike Corder and Elena Becatoros reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Hidankyo chairperson Tomoyuki Mimaki, who was standing by at Hiroshima City Hall for the announcement, cheered and teared up when he received the news. I Illustration: Niklas Elmehed, The Nobel Prize

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”

He said the Nobel committee “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,” Mari Yamaguchi, Lori Hinnant, and Vanessa Gera also reported for AP.

Hidankyo chairperson Tomoyuki Mimaki, who was standing by at Hiroshima City Hall for the announcement, cheered and teared up when he received the news. “Is it really true? Unbelievable!” Mimaki exclaimed.

Efforts to eradicate nuclear weapons have been honored in the past by the Nobel committee.

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 diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms.”