“The average age of the A-bomb survivors is now 85. Ten years from now, there may only be a handful of us able to give testimony as firsthand survivors. From now on, I hope that the next generation will find ways to build on our efforts and develop the movement even further.” –

Terumi Tanaka, Co-Chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture

On August 6, 1945, the first wartime use of nuclear weapons delivered unprecedented devastation on the unsuspecting residents of Hiroshima, and then three days later, on the residents of Nagasaki. It resulted in almost a quarter of a million deaths by the end of the year. The Hibakusha, firsthand survivors, were forced to keep silent in the years that followed. 400,000 were exposed to the bomb, suffering burns, trauma, and loss, with many dying of radiation poisoning and various cancers years later.

The threat of nuclear war is not just borne of a conflict between two ideologies or two cities or even two nations. It does not spark, flicker, and die in isolation. Between treaties, retaliation, and radioactive fallout, it would migrate around the globe, affecting billions of people. The start of any modern-day nuclear conflagration would mean the end of life on our planet as we know it. This is not one group or one country’s fight. We are all connected. Our shared humanity and circumstance extend beyond the border lines of a map.

As we lose witnesses to time, it is important to educate the next generation to keep this history alive. Future decision-makers need to understand the impact and lingering misery and suffering caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 2024, Nihon Hidankyo, a group of atomic bomb survivors, won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize for their work sharing the firsthand accounts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki witnesses, and working to prevent nuclear weapons from being used again in the same manner.

The Korematsu Institute is pleased to take part in the #CranesForOurFuture campaign that coincides with the somber anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The crane represents peace, hope, and long life, and the campaign encourages us all to envision a world without the threat of nuclear weapons. We must never forget the painful lessons of the past, but we must also remember that history is a living and breathing thing that we are creating in the present. We can work together to determine our collective future, where the horrors of the past will never be repeated. We must work together to shape a sustainable, nuclear-free world for us all and relegate this horrific legacy to the history books. We cannot allow another act of destruction like the two bombs that landed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This is about all of us.