Before Their Voices Fade:
The Nobel Peace Prize and the Hibakusha
Aired on December 29, 2024 from 8:25-9 am
The Nobel Peace Prize and the Hibakusha special program is now online
TSS, a broadcast company located in the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima, created a special TV program to commemorate the Nihon Hidankyo's Nobel Peace Prize win. Complete with English subtitles, the program will be available to watch on the TSS Archive Project website beginning May 12, 2025.
The Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations), a Hibakusha organization, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024. For generations, the Hibakusha survivors have had a huge impact on the world, conveying not just their experiences of the atomic bombing, but also the horrors of nuclear weapons and the need for nuclear abolition.
While looking back at our footage of the years of activism by members of the Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo, a local branch of the Nihon Hidankyo, this special TSS broadcast follows Hidankyo members at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, Norway and explores the issues humanity faces in realizing a world free from nuclear weapons as we enter the 80th year since the atomic bombings.
Comment from Noriko Wakaki (in charge of program arrangement/interviews):
I found myself quite surprised when it was announced that the Nihon Hidankyo would be awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. However, when considering the current global nuclear situation, I quickly understood the reason why the award had gone to the organization at this moment in time.
I had the honor to interview Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Nobel Committee. He spoke of wanting to present the Nobel Peace Prize to all Hibakusha. Hearing this brought to mind the faces of all the Hibakusha I have interviewed in my career, including members of the Hidankyo: survivors who showed the world their scars and conveyed the horrors of the atomic bombing to those inside and outside of Japan; who fervently appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Sadly, many of those survivors are no longer with us.
Through this program, it is my hope that viewers will truly listen to the voices Hibakusha and their take their message to heart.
Profile
Noriko has worked in news production as a reporter since joining TSS. After spending three years as a reporter in New York (US) from 2010 to 2013 as an FNN foreign correspondent, she became the main newscaster for TSS Super News FNN. Serving as the deputy director of the news department, she uses her own unique perspective to create programs that convey local information, as well as programs featuring local TV personalities. In December 2024, she traveled to Oslo, Norway to cover the Nihon Hidankyo Nobel Peace Prize win. While there, she conducted an FNN exclusive interview with Chairman of the Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes.
