Althouse: "The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, a grass-roots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

October 11, 2024

"The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, a grass-roots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

"The survivors 'help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons,' Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said during his announcement on Friday. Mr. Frydnes added that 'extraordinary efforts' by survivors of the U.S. nuclear attack in Japan, including those who are part of Nihon Hidankyo, 'have contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo.' That, he said, had led to a world in which no weapons of that type had been used in war in 80 years."

The NYT reports.

29 comments:

Money Manger said...: I'm sure they are a worthy and noble cause. But you get the sense that in many categories, the Nobel committee has already found almost all of the deserving recipients. That they are, pardon the metaphor, scraping the barrel.; 10/11/24, 4:28 AM
Big Mike said...: The survivors would rather have been burned to death in fire bombing raids such as were used in Tokyo?; 10/11/24, 4:42 AM
Oh Yea said...: No Japanese civilians survivors from Okinawa describing how their own army mercilessly used their own civilians in the defense against the Americans?; 10/11/24, 5:21 AM
Dave Begley said...: Will Bibi get the Nobel Peace Prize when he blows up Iran’s nuke facility?; 10/11/24, 5:22 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Are the members of the US military whose lives were spared by not having to invade prize recipients, too? They are also survivors of the atomic bombs.; 10/11/24, 5:37 AM
DanTheLurker said...: If you want to honor the folks who maintain the nuclear taboo, I recommend United States Strategic Command. Peace is our profession, after all.; 10/11/24, 5:47 AM
rehajm said...: Suspiciously devoid of trendy leftie causes…the sort of Nobel in Economics will prolly make up for it…; 10/11/24, 5:50 AM
rhhardin said...: All the Japanese on the island at that point were not worth the life of a single additional American soldier. Fortunately the Emperor told them to knock off the fighting to the death and cooperate with the Americans. Deal struck, we were the best of friends. Different rules.; 10/11/24, 5:50 AM
tcrosse said...: The Vietnamese I've talked to thought we didn't nuke the Japanese enough. The Chinese think something similar.; 10/11/24, 6:00 AM
mongo said...: With respect to our hostess, Bob Dylan winning the Literature prize is a great example of Money Manger's comment.; 10/11/24, 6:13 AM
Oh Yea said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/11/24, 6:15 AM
Rocco said...: As are the Japanese whose lives were spared, too.

The US military started minting Purple Hearts in anticipation of the number of killed or wounded US servicemen in the invasion. They are still issuing medals from that stockpile.

And Operation Downfall in Japan would have gone a lot worse than Operation Overlord in Normandy.; 10/11/24, 6:27 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "With respect to our hostess, Bob Dylan winning the Literature prize is a great example of Money Manger's comment."

Tell that to Philip Roth; 10/11/24, 6:30 AM
John henry said...: Big Mike beat me to it

my first thought was Tokyo. Ifyou look at the aftermath of the 1945 Tokyo bombing and the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing there's not much difference.

they're probably is a difference in death toll with more people dying in Tokyo then Hiroshima but I'll bet not one person in 10 has even ever heard of the Tokyo bombing. Maybe five people out of 10 in this group here.

John Henry; 10/11/24, 6:33 AM
John henry said...: On net, after subtracting the deaths, Hiroshima and Nagasaki probably saved 500,000 to a million Japanese lives.

Women and children mainly wh would have died defending against an invasion.

Plus a hundred thousand us deaths

John Henry; 10/11/24, 6:38 AM
John henry said...: Operation meeting house, bombing of Tokyo march 9/10 1945 killed 100,000 per Wikipedia.; 10/11/24, 6:44 AM
Kirk Parker said...: John Henry,

"Maybe five people out of 10 in this group here."

Nah, we're all completely preoccupied with thinking about the Roman Empire.; 10/11/24, 6:51 AM
John henry said...: On the day of Japanese surrender there were still 3 million Japanese troops fighting in China. For a day or so there was some doubt as to whether they would obey the emporer and surrender.

After the surrender there was a contingent of Japanese officers who thought the emporer had betrayed Japan and tried to kill him so they could fight on.

"thank God for the Atomic Bomb" - William Manchester

John Henry; 10/11/24, 6:52 AM
gilbar said...: And Toyko was only day one, of Operation Meetinghouse.
By August, the Only cities in Japan with more than 50,000 were the ones being "saved " for abombing; 10/11/24, 6:56 AM
Oh Yea said...: More Japanese civilians would have died if the US invaded the Japanese home islands. The atomic bombs not only saved lives of US personnel and that of our allies, but they also saved Japanese lives.; 10/11/24, 6:57 AM
typingtalker said...: " ... That, he said, had led to a world in which no weapons of that type had been used in war in 80 years."

We need a world where no weapons of any type are used. Don't worry, Kamala is on it.; 10/11/24, 6:57 AM
Dixcus said...: You really need a WWIII tag, Ann. And include this post as the obvious sign that one is coming.; 10/11/24, 7:22 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: The prospect of total annihilation is especially problematic for the Japanese who have yet to come up with a good explanation for what happens to all the ghosts.; 10/11/24, 7:32 AM
Kirk Parker said...: "Thank God for the Atomic Bomb" -- isn't that Paul Fussel, rather than Manchester?; 10/11/24, 7:37 AM
Randomizer said...: The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to AI researchers who don't have anything to do with physics. Money Manger is correct.; 10/11/24, 7:57 AM
chuck said...: You don't need high tech to kill a lot of people. Tamerlane is estimated to have killed maybe 17 million. Heck, I recall a description of a pregnant women being beaten to death with a hoe in Cambodia. Weapons aren't the problem, people are.; 10/11/24, 7:58 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Not to mention the Japanese Military's encouragement of the civilians on Saipan to join them in suicide rather than being captured by the evil Americans.
The forgotten survivors of ‘war without mercy’ in the Pacific; 10/11/24, 8:06 AM
Aggie said...: An illustrative list of Nobel Prize recipients could conceivably be prepared by the Babylon Bee. I'm so old I remember when somebody got one for doing absolutely nothing.; 10/11/24, 8:18 AM
“Bad Genes” said...: A visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial is as sobering and soul-searching as one to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and should be a prerequisite for all those who wish to deal in modern international affairs.; 10/11/24, 8:19 AM