TOKYO: A 31-member delegation, mainly made up of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors, will attend a ceremony to be held on Dec. 10 to present the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, with the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, according to the group’s announcement.
Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Terumi Tanaka, 92, will deliver a speech at the ceremony, which will be held in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, the group said Friday.
“We hope to deliver the voices of hibakusha in the midst of perilous situations in the world,” Jiro Hamasumi, 78, an assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, said.
The delegation will include 16 hibakusha and children of hibakusha who serve in senior posts of Nihon Hidankyo, as well as hibakusha from South Korea and Brazil.
Among others in the delegation are those with whom Nihon Hidankyo has worked together — Izumi Nakamitsu, who is the U.N. undersecretary-general and high representative for disarmament affairs, Akira Kawasaki, who is a member of the international steering committee of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, third-generation hibakusha Mitsuhiro Hayashida and American University professor Peter Kuznick.
The delegation will leave for Oslo on Dec. 8.
During the trip, the group will attend the award ceremony and a related banquet.
On Dec. 11, the delegation will take part in a launch ceremony for a special exhibition on Nihon Hidakyo at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. Some members will also tell their stories at a high school and a university in the Norwegian capital on the same day.
The delegation will return to Japan on Dec. 13.
As the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s official invitation only covers one person, Nihon Hidakyo said that it plans to raise around 10 million yen through crowdfunding for the travel expenses of other delegation members.
JIJI Press