Nobel Prize for Hibakusha Not Putting Period to Anti-Nuke Efforts

Tokyo, Nov. 27 (Jiji Press)--Yu Sato, a 23-year-old Tokyo student hosting online events for listening to the experiences of "hibakusha" atomic bomb survivors, thinks a momentum toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons should be maintained even after hibakusha group Nihon Hidankyo's winning of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

"(Our efforts) should not end up with 'congratulations' for the award, which also signifies alarm over heightening threats posed by nuclear weapons," the Hitotsubashi University graduate student said ahead of the survivors group, whose English name is the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, receiving the award in Oslo on Dec. 10.

Sato, a native of the northeastern Japan city of Sendai, got interested in the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when she was a sophomore in high school. She became eager to "directly listen to hibakusha's stories" after reading former Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka's book looking back on developments in the 50 years since the western city was atomic-bombed.

After graduation, she enrolled at Hiroshima City University and listened to more than 50 survivors while volunteering for sorting out the belongings of atomic bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

During the volunteer work, she came to know that many hibakusha gave up on going out telling their stories due to weakening physical strength. Then she struck on the idea of "visiting hibakusha's homes to link them to listeners online." In November 2023, she started online meetings connecting hibakusha storytellers with younger generations.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]