Nihon Hidankyo Hears Calls to Pass Cause to 2nd Generation

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese atomic bomb survivor organization, heard calls Thursday for children of atomic bomb survivors to carry on its movement as it weighs whether to remain active or disband.

About 80 "hibakusha" survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings and other representatives of constituent groups from across Japan attended the meeting in Tokyo.

They reported their views on the future of the organization, formally known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.

A group from the western Japan prefecture of Hiroshima, where the nuclear attack took place on Aug. 6, 1945, said Nihon Hidankyo received the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its efforts to spread awareness of the realities of the atomic bombings, and argued that "disbanding would have a major impact." It said that the organization should remain active, centered on so-called second-generation hibakusha.

A group from the southwestern Japan prefecture of Nagasaki, which was attacked with an atomic bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, said it was still discussing the issue but that some viewed disbanding as "out of the question."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]