A-bomb victims' group calls for world free of nukes on its 70th anniversary

Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading group for atomic bomb survivors, pledged on Monday to continue their fight for a world without nuclear weapons on the 70th anniversary of their founding. This grassroots movement, established in Nagasaki on August 10, 1956, has played a vital role in shaping international attitudes towards nuclear weapons. The group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 for their tireless efforts to achieve a nuclear-free world.

As of March of this year, the average age of survivors was 86.66 years old. The group's co-chairman, Shigemitsu Tanaka, 85, spoke at a press conference in Nagasaki, emphasizing that the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were carried out because of war and that the world must not engage in warfare any longer. Hidankyo urges the Japanese government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, calling it a historic responsibility for the atomic-bombed country and the first step towards a peaceful world.

The group also pushes for the preservation of Japan's pacifist Constitution, warning that the current government, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, is seeking to revise it without proper debate. Hidankyo's two basic demands have been compensation for the victims of the atomic bombings and the immediate abolition of nuclear weapons. With the survivors' average age increasing, Hidankyo and local chapters aim to decide on their future course in the coming year.