Reaction to Nihon Hidankyo winning Nobel Peace Prize

(Reuters) – The Nobel Peace Prize was won by Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also known as Hibakusha.

Here is reaction to Friday’s announcement:

NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE

“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.”

NIHON HIDANKYO CO-CHAIR TOSHIYUKI MIMAKI

“(The win) will be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting peace can be achieved,” he told a news conference in Hiroshima, site of the Aug. 6, 1945 atomic bombing during World War Two.

“Nuclear weapons should absolutely be abolished.”

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHIGERU ISHIBA

“It’s extremely meaningful that the organisation that has worked toward abolishing nuclear weapons received the Nobel Peace Prize,” the prime minister told a press conference in Laos.

PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE OSLO

“Nihon Hidankyo’s work reminds us of the devastating human cost of nuclear weapons, a message we cannot ignore. In an era where automated weapon systems and AI-driven warfare are emerging, their call for disarmament is not just historical — it is a critical message for our future. This prize highlights the need for global cooperation to steer humanity away from another world war and towards lasting global peace.”

(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Compiled by Alison Williams)