Photo/Illutration Hiroshi Kanamoto speaks at a news conference in Nagoya on Dec. 4. Yoshinori Omura is at his left. (Moeno Kunkata)

NAGOYA—Two senior members of the Japan Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization (Nihon Hidankyo), the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, discussed the power--and difficulties--of hibakusha offering their experiences. 

“I became confident that the world will move when many people offer testimony and the power of many others who listen to it grows into one,” Hiroshi Kanamoto, a representative director of the federation, told a news conference here on Dec. 4.

Kanamoto, 80, met reporters along with Yoshinori Omura, 68, deputy president of Nihon Hidankyo’s committee of children of atomic bomb survivors.

Kanamoto, a resident of Nagoya, and Omura, who lives in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, will attend the awards ceremony in Oslo on Dec. 10 as part of a Nihon Hidankyo delegation.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the organization received the 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.”

Kanamoto has been speaking about his atomic bomb experiences and those of his family members for about 10 years.

Kanamoto was 9 months old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.

His sister, 12 years his senior, wore long-sleeved clothing and long trousers even in the summer to hide the keloid scars on her left side.

Those around her opposed her giving birth.

“We have provided testimony in anguish, not wanting our experiences to be known at times and wanting them to be known at other times,” Kanamoto said.

Omura said his father, who suffered the atomic bombing in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, never talked about his experiences until five decades after the war ended.

“Speaking about the atomic bombing evokes poignant memories,” he said. “My father used to say, ‘The smell comes back.’ He must have been too fearful to speak.”

Omura also said he plans to disseminate more information about the hibakusha’s experiences and activities globally and wants the younger generations to learn about them.

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