Hibakusha invited to Norway

October 26, 2017

Hibakusha invited to Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20171026_28/

Three survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been invited to the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Norway in December.

Akira Kawasaki, a Japanese member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, which won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, made the announcement on Thursday.

He was meeting in Hiroshima with about 30 atomic-bomb survivors known as hibakusha.

Kawasaki said that the organization decided to invite two hibakusha from Japan and one from abroad to attend the ceremony in Oslo in December.

Kawasaki noted that ICAN was awarded the prize for its efforts that led to the adoption of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, but that its goal is to eliminate nuclear weapons from the world.

He said that as the treaty has only been signed by some 50 countries, ICAN will continue to work to increase the number of signatories.

One survivor said that the power of the civic movement aspiring for a world without nuclear arms has been recognized by the global community.

The hibakusha said that power of citizens should be further consolidated to continue the fight against nuclear weapons.