Atomic bomb survivor: ‘We want the UN to pressure Putin to end the war’

Shigemitsu Tanaka, Co-Chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, the group that represents survivors of the 1945 atomic bombs that fell in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was in Barcelona for a peace conference and commemorative act in the city hall on Tuesday.  

Nihon Hidankyo was awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace 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."

Tanaka met the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and spoke to the press before the ceremony held in the city council building’s Saló de Cent hall. 

Answering questions, he stated that, in the current global climate, he cannot know whether nuclear war will break out in Ukraine, but it is something that he and his group "are very concerned about." 

"We don’t want nuclear war to happen anywhere on Earth. Nations of the world should have a dialogue to solve disputes and wars." 

Tanaka wants the United Nations and member states to put pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the war "and not use nuclear weapons." 

The atomic bomb survivor cited the UN charter as a means for settling disputes peacefully and insisted that countries cannot expand their territories, as this is one of the principles of the charter. "We want to tell Russia especially to end the war immediately and start negotiations."

In a similar vein, he admitted that he was "concerned" about politics in the United States right now, given Donald Trump’s inauguration to the White House the day before. 

Rebuilding society

Tanaka was 4 years old when the bomb fell in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, and lived around 6km away from the epicenter of the bomb, in Togitsu. He was asked about how such a society can go about rebuilding itself after such a catastrophe. 

"We didn’t have many things," he told reporters in the city hall building. "Everything was scarce, life was very hard. After the atomic bomb, especially Hiroshima was abandoned, without any help from the US and Japanese governments and the Japanese public." 

Tanaka said that the occupying US forces "rejected any support from medical teams and the supply of medicine from other countries for almost 12 years after the bombing. The survivors were left alone and abandoned." 

People were suffering from various diseases and many mental problems, and "daily life was full of anxiety." 

The situation was particularly bad for women, who suffered discrimination, and many could not get married after the devastating bombs as there were many rumours in Japanese society at the time that they could not have babies, or that if they did the babies would be born "defected."

Teaching new generations

This year will mark the 80th anniversary of the most destructive bombing the world has ever seen. Many young people "don’t know about the atomic bombing and the effects and people’s experiences," according to Tanaka, who focuses his efforts on teaching the new generations about their experiences. 

"I have visited high schools and elementary schools to talk about my experiences. They look not interested in our stories at first, but when they hear our experience of the atomic bombing, I see many young people become more interested in the peace movement or activities for peace."

"Now there are second or third generations of survivors of the atomic bombs who are getting active to take over the movement of the Hibakusha (a Japanese term for people affected by the bombs)."

Tanaka explained that he sees many students getting active in collecting signatures for the elimination of nuclear weapons and for the Japanese government to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, something which has grown since the Nihon Hidankyo won the Nobel Peace Prize in December. 

August 9, the anniversary of the bombing, is not a holiday in Nagasaki, but rather children go to school and visit the atomic bomb museum, learning about the horrors of the past on that day. 

Thanks to the efforts of the Centre of Promotion for Peace of Nagasaki in organizing school visits, up to 70,000 students from all over the Kyushu region come on school trips to learn about the bombing each year. 

Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs

Yayoi Tsuchida, a representative of the NGO Gensuikyo, the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, was also present at the ceremony and translated for Shigemitsu Tanaka from Japanese to English.

She also told Catalan News that she feels hopeful for the future of the world, despite the ongoing challenges. "There is a serious danger of a nuclear war happening in the world but at the same time I have witnessed that the cooperation among the United Nations, and many non-nuclear weapons countries and civil societies of the world are now working together to open up the way to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world," she said.

Tsuchida was also thankful for the support from the Barcelona council. The city government, according to her, is "very supportive of peace and no nuclear weapons," and cited that the council adopted a resolution calling on the Spanish government to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

"We are so satisfied. Shigemitsu Tanaka was so moved by the city giving us such an opportunity to tell his story of the atomic bombing."

City council event

After Shigemitsu Tanaka and Yayoi Tsuchida, general secretary of Gensuikyo, the Japanese Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, spoke with the media, Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni gave a speech at the Saló de Cent room in the city hall.

Collboni commented on the poignancy of meeting an atomic bomb survivor just one day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the United States, and for the new era of international relations he is expected to usher in.

The Socialist council leader mentioned some large anti-war demonstrations in decades gone by in the Catalan capital, and underlined Barcelona’s reputation as a city of refuge: "Barcelona is an open and welcoming city that creates spaces for dialogue." 

"Today is also a day to bridge generations, Shigemitsu Tanaka brings his living memory of Nagasaki, it’s a call for action that born from his own personal experiences." The mayor also praised Tanaka’s dedication to working for peace and conflict resolution through dialogue. 

Also speaking at the event was the mayor of Granollers, Alba Barnusell i Ortuño, who is also the vice president of the organization International Mayors for Peace. "Never again should anybody have to suffer what you suffered," she said, directed toward the atomic bomb survivor. 

Lastly, Tica Font, a representative of the Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament, a network of 63 different entities, had the floor. She explained that the group’s objective was to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons and to raise awareness about the humanitarian and environmental consequences of this type of weaponry.