MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Japanese organization of atom bomb survivors granted 2024 Nobel Peace Prize

Hibakusha (survivors) have been campaigning for decades to ban nuclear weapons globally

Given its commitment to a nuclear-free world, the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, Norway's Nobel Committee in Oslo announced Friday. It was the first time in 50 years that a Japanese recipient has been awarded the prize.

 “The extraordinary efforts of Nihon Hidankyo and other representatives of the hibakusha have contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo,” said Frydnes. “It is therefore alarming that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure,” explained Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes.

Founded in 1956 by survivors (known for the Japanese word “hibakusha”) of the atomic bombs dropped on Aug. 6 and 9 in 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively, Nihon Hidankyo exerts pressure on the Japanese government to better assist them while campaigning for the abolition of all nuclear weapons in the world. The US nuclear attacks remain the only ones ever recorded. The exact number of victims exceeding hundreds of thousands could never be determined given radiation's long-term effects that kept killing people over time. The Japanese government has recognized around 650,000 hibakusha, of whom around 106,000 are believed to still be alive to this day.

Amid the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine among others, there was no clear favorite for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the only one of the series not dealt with by Sweden's Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. There were 286 candidates, including 197 personalities and 89 organizations, significantly fewer than in previous years. The names of the nominees are traditionally kept secret by the Nobel institutions for 50 years.

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee, headquartered in downtown Oslo is made up of five members elected by the Norwegian parliament. It accepts nominations until Jan. 31 of each year. Parliamentarians from all over the world, heads of state, and professors, among others, are allowed to submit candidacies.