00:00The Peace Prize for 2024 to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyu.
00:07This grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
00:13also known as Hibakusha, is receiving the Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
00:22A town the size of Sheffield.
00:25Here and there an isolated structure reminds the onlooker that here was once a city.
00:56I think it's revolutionary.
01:00Japan is the only non-nuclear power,
01:06so I hope that this kind of resolution will not be used in a wrong way.
01:13I want the world to think about it.
01:25The Peace Prize for 2024
01:30When I received the Peace Prize, I felt like I saw a flash of light.
01:39I felt the emptiness of not being able to receive an autograph for the Peace Prize.
01:49But even so, the sadness and joy of my efforts
01:59are connected to the Peace Prize.
02:06I think it's very meaningful.
02:11While their numbers grow smaller each year,
02:14the relentless work and resilience of the Hibakusha are the backbone of the global nuclear disarmament movement.
02:20Their haunting living testimony reminds the world that the nuclear threat is not confined to history books.
02:26Nuclear weapons remain a clear and present danger to humanity,
02:30once again appearing in the daily rhetoric of international relations.
02:35It is time for world leaders to be as clear-eyed as the Hibakusha
02:38and see nuclear weapons for what they are,
02:41devices of death that offer no safety, protection, or security.
02:45Just imagine you go through atomic bombings
02:50and such catastrophic experiences.
02:55Probably you would not want to remember,
02:58but these Hibakushas are very brave
03:02and decided to share their catastrophic experiences
03:09to the world in order for the world to make movements towards peace and nuclear disarmament
03:18and, of course, eventually the elimination of nuclear weapons.
03:23It was an extraordinary moment because, of course,
03:25the Hibakusha are getting older and older, the few who are left,
03:29and, of course, their health has always suffered throughout their whole lives.
03:32So it's a very important moment, I think, to acknowledge their contribution.
03:37We are seeing a move away from this understanding
03:42that nuclear weapons are somewhere in the background,
03:46somewhere there as a sort of vague, never-to-be-used-to-deterrence function,
03:52to a real threat.
03:55The Hibakusha are getting older and older.
03:59I don't think it's just about being happy.
04:02I feel like we have more responsibility now.
04:06It's not just about being happy when we get something.
04:09What we have to do now is a big issue.
04:12All the Hibakusha are very old.
04:15They are over 85 years old.
04:18We have two children.
04:21Not all of them, but some of them.
04:26If we don't raise them with strong leadership,
04:31the Hibakusha and the Hiroshima Organization will collapse.
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