https://arab.news/pzx9y
TOKYO: Japanese Empress Masako said the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of survivors of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was a key event of this year that impressed and reminded her of the importance of global peace efforts.
Masako, the wife of Emperor Naruhito, said she thought of the pain and suffering of the survivors and struggles of those who have long led the nuclear disarmament effort.
She “felt anew the importance for the people of the world to strive for mutual understanding and work together in order to build a peaceful world,” Masako said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency for her 61st birthday Monday.
Her comment comes one day before a group of 30 atomic bombing survivors will attend Tuesday’s Nobel prize award ceremony in Oslo.
Hidankyo was awarded for its decades-long activism against nuclear weapons.
The 30 survivors, known as hibakusha, see the prize and the international attention as a last chance to get their message to younger generations.
Terumi Tanaka, a 91-year-old survivor of the Nagasaki bombing who will speak at the award ceremony, told reporters after arriving in Oslo that he planned to talk about the survivors’ campaign and their demand that nuclear weapons must be abolished.