EDITORIAL | Nobel Peace Prize a Reminder of Nuclear Horrors

The new Nobel Peace Prize laureate is Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Sufferers Organizations. Established in 1956, it is a national organization of victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. The group strives for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

This is the second time that a Japanese individual or entity has received the Nobel Peace Prize. Former Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, who won in 1974, was the first. Notably, one of the reasons for Sato's award was his advocacy of Japan's three non-nuclear principles. 

The Nobel Prize Committee lauded Nihon Hidankyo's work in passing on the experiences of atomic bomb victims and tirelessly working for a world without nuclear weapons. Nihon Hidankyo's prestigious award is a cause for celebration. 

A World More Dangerous Than Ever

Even now, the threat of nuclear weapons casts a pall over the world. Indeed, we face the most perilous international conditions since the end of the East-West Cold War. 

Even as it presses forward on its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has boasted on several occasions that it is a nuclear power. In addition, it has repeatedly test-launched demonstrations affirm that it constitutes a nuclear threat to NATO members, including the United States. 

Moreover, the Russian military has deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a Russian ally that borders Ukraine and Poland. There is always the risk that Russia could attack non-nuclear Ukraine with nuclear weapons.

Then there is North Korea, which has been strengthening its nuclear and missile capabilities in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Pyongyang has gone so far as to suggest the possibility of it launching a nuclear attack on South Korea. Furthermore, it has repeatedly launched ballistic missiles over the Japanese archipelago.

Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal and is expected to have around 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035. As recently as September 2024, it test-launched an ICBM toward the Pacific Ocean. Obviously this was meant as a threat to the US. 

Warn Others from Japan's Experience

Unlike Japan, none of these nuclear-armed nations has suffered atomic bombings. 

The Nihon Hidankyo's work is keeping alive remembrance of Japan's tragic experiences from the atomic bombings. Their work benefits people in Japan and all around the world. 

Spreading awareness of the need to discourage the use of nuclear weapons has great significance. Thanks to their work, any national leader contemplating the use of nuclear weapons now runs a greater risk of being condemned by all of humanity.

Nevertheless, the Nobel Prize Committee warns, the taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is in danger of being eroded. Unfriendly, nuclear-armed dictatorships ー China, Russia, and North Korea ー surround Japan. Therefore, it is necessary to devise nuclear deterrence while continuing to pursue the ideal of the abolition of nuclear weapons. 

Nuclear weapons must never again be used in Japan, or indeed anywhere in the world.

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(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun