A World without Nuclear Weapons: The Nobel Peace Prize and Japan's Hibakusha

 
November was a super busy month for British Prof and it was the first time in a while that a new post didn't drop. My apologies. But don't worry, normal service is resumed! Here in Japan, Christmas is much more low key than in the UK - Christmas Day is a normal working day and the ads are not as ubiquitous - but the Japanese still enjoy Christmas shopping, Christmas cakes, and Christmas markets, not to mention amazing illuminations (see previous posts here and here). On campus, the Christmas tree lights are now up following a countdown light-up ceremony (点灯式) which included free hot chocolate for students. A nice touch was a "What are you going to ask from Santa?" (サンタさんに何をお願いしますか）display: aside from job-hunting and study goals, a common request was peace (heiwa=平和).

Thousands of origami cranes at the museum entrance

Those watching the news closely might have noticed that the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony was held in Oslo on December 10th with Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Survivors Organisation) receiving the award. According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, Hidankyo was awarded this year's prize “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” Hidankyo was formed in 1956 to promote the social and economic rights of hibakusha (被爆者), the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their motto is "no more hibakusha" and the Oslo speech featured a heartfelt plea to abolish nuclear weapons. The full speech given by 92-year-old Terumi Tanaka, co-chair of the group and Nagasaki survivor, can be read here. Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed the origami crane as the symbol of the group, harking back to the story of Sadako Sasaki who developed leukemia after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and folded more than 1000 cranes in a futile attempt to prolong her life.

Picture in the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall of the Castle Bravo Hydrogen Bomb Test which generated a mushroom cloud 34,000 meters high. It was said to be 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima (© US National Archives)

The trigger for the formation of Hidankyo were the nuclear weapon tests conducted at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, in the Northwestern Pacific by the United States in 1954, which 23 crew members of the Japanese tuna fishing vessel "Lucky Dragon No.5" ( Daigo Fukuryū Maru =第五福龍丸) were inadvertently caught up in. The return of the boat to Japan, the burns and acute radiation poisoning suffered by the crew (including one early death), and the ensuing "radioactive rain" which fell throughout Japan and the Pacific mobilised the Japanese and prompted the birth of Hidankyo. Unknown to many locals, Tokyo has an incredible museum hosting the actual wooden fishing boat and featuring an array of artifacts, art, and historical materials. 

The boat itself was retired from service in 1967 and was abandoned in the garbage dump known as Yume no Shima, an artificial island built using waste landfill in Tokyo Bay. However, local citizens pushed the Metropolitan Government to preserve the boat and the exhibition hall was constructed in 1976. The boat is exhibited here "as an enduring symbol of protest against all nuclear weapons and testing." The museum is an incredible learning experience, with detailed bilingual information on the nuclear testing and aftermath, accompanied by huge maps, witness testimonies, artifacts (like the "Ashes of Death" pictured), and newspaper reports from the time. There is also information about the spread of the anti-nuclear movement in Japan and worldwide, including the Russel-Einstein Manifesto of 1955 and the first World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in the same year.

Reading about the Russel-Einstein Manifesto reminded me of the presence of Einstein in the award-winning film Oppenheimer. In Japan, reactions were mixed with some praising the film's "anti-nuclear stance" and others, including an ex-mayor of Hiroshima, criticising leaving out scenes of the atomic bombing in Japan. It was not released here until eight months after its initial global release and some cinemas posted trigger warnings (Universal's official distributor in Japan Toho-Towa opted not to release it, partly explaining the delay). The film was certainly a tough and uncomfortable watch, especially the scenes outlining the reasons for targeting urban population centres rather than less populated areas: the justification of "sending a message" to the Soviet Union was difficult to swallow given the terrible loss of life. On that pensive note I wish all my readers - indeed all humanity - peace over Christmas and into the New Year and pray that the experience of the hibakusha will never again be repeated. If you do have any thoughts, hopes, or messages, please send a COMMENT to share with readers all over the world.