An organization representing survivors of the 1945 atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was named as the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to achieve "a world free of nuclear weapons."

Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Victims' Organizations, has been campaigning since August 1956 for greater health care provisions for survivors of the attacks — known as "hibakusha," or "bomb-affected people" — as well as a blanket ban on the development and use of nuclear weapons.

Announcing the winner of this year's award in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said the grassroots group had helped lead a global movement that has "worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons."

Over time, that has grown into a "powerful international norm" that stigmatizes the use of nuclear weapons as morally unacceptable, the committee said in a statement. "This norm has now become known as 'the nuclear taboo.'"

Survivor savors the award

Tomoyuki Mimaki, the 82-year-old executive of the organization's Hiroshima branch and a survivor of the attack, was standing in Hiroshima City Hall when the announcement was made in Norway, and was immediately moved to tears.

"Is it true?" he asked. "Unbelievable!"

Asked by a reporter about the message he wanted to share with people around the world, he said, "Please abolish nuclear weapons while we are still alive. That is the wish of 114,000 hibakusha.”

Mimaki added that each year sees fewer survivors attending the annual commemorative events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but those who remain hope they can survive long enough to see nuclear weapons abolished.

"We do not have much life left anymore," he said, adding, "I am not sure I will be alive next year." 

He noted that he would visit the graves of the campaigners who have died to inform them of the good news.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is meeting with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos, told a hastily arranged press conference that it was "extremely significant that the Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to this organization, which has been working for many years toward the abolition of nuclear weapons."

'Contributions extremely significant'

In Hiroshima, Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki congratulated the organization. "Understanding the devastating effects of the use of nuclear weapon is the first step toward achieving their abolition, and the unwavering efforts, actions and movements of the hibakusha toward that goal are the source of strength for advocating the abolition of nuclear weapons," Yuzaki said.

"Their contributions are extremely significant," he said. "The road to the abolition of nuclear weapons may still be long, but we hope that this Nobel Peace Prize will serve as an opportunity for people around the world to reaffirm their commitment to working toward the abolition of nuclear weapons."

Others said they hope the award will give new life to the campaign against atomic weapons, including in Japan, where successive governments have declined to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, in large part because the nation's security is effectively guaranteed under the nuclear umbrella provided by the United States.

"I hope this award will lead to the Japanese government changing its stance and finally becoming more proactive in efforts to abolish nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth," said Aileen Mioko Smith, an environmental campaigner with Kyoto-based Green Action Japan, who is also a fierce opponent of nuclear weapons. 

"I hope everybody who hears about the Nobel Prize will urge the Japanese government to follow the lead of the hibakusha of Japan," she told DW.

For nearly 70 years, Nihon Hidankyo has represented people who were in Hiroshima or Nagasaki at the time of the atomic attacks, as well as others who lived nearby and were affected by the radiation and nuclear fallout from the two bombs —still the only nuclear weapons ever used in a conflict.

As many as 140,000 people died as a result of the August 6 attack on Hiroshima, along with an estimated 70,000 in the raid on Nagasaki three days later. Tokyo announced its surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945.

Nihon Hidankyo was nominated for the award on two previous occasions, in 1985 and again in 1994. In 1974, Prime Minister Eisaku Sato won the award after introducing Japan's three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, producing or permitting nuclear weapons on the nation's territory.

'Indescribable, unthinkable, incomprehensible'

"These historical witnesses have helped to generate and consolidate widespread opposition to nuclear weapons around the world by drawing on personal stories, creating educational campaigns based on their own experience, and issuing urgent warnings against the spread and use of nuclear weapons," the Nobel committee said on Friday.

"The hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons."

Even though no nuclear weapon has been used in war in nearly 80 years, which the committee described as an "encouraging fact," it also said it is "alarming that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure."

The committee pointed out that nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals, new countries are preparing to acquire nuclear weapons and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons in ongoing warfare.

"At this moment in human history, it is worth reminding ourselves what nuclear weapons are: the most destructive weapons the world has ever seen," said the committee.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru