About Hidankyo

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About us


(Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations)
Gable Bldg. #902 1-3-5 Shiba-Daimon Minato-ku Tokyo 105-0012 Japan
Phone: +81-3-3438-1897
Fax: +81-3-3431-2113

Co-Chairperson: Terumi TANAKA
Shigemitsu TANAKA
Toshiyuki MIMAKI
Secretary General: Sueichi KIDO
Assistant Secretary General: Michiko KODAMA
Jiro HAMASUMI
Masako WADA
Toshiko HAMANAKA

Introduction    Message to the world    Chronology    Nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

1. Founding

    August 10 1956

2. Organization and Membership

NIHON HIDANKYO is the only nation-wide organization of A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hibakusha). It has member organizations in all 47 Japanese prefectures, thus representing almost all organized Hibakusha. Its officials and members are all Hibakusha. The total number of the surviving Hibakusha living in Japan is 174,080, as of March 2016. There are several thousands of more Hibakusha living in Korea and other parts of the world outside Japan. HIDANKYO is cooperating with those organizations in their work for the defense of the living and rights of these people.

3. Main Objectives (for details, refer to 1988 Document)

1) Prevention of nuclear war and the elimination of nuclear weapons, including the signing of an international agreement for a total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons. The convening of an international conference to reach this goal is also part of Hidankyo's basic demand;

2) State compensation for the A-bomb damages. The state responsibility of having launched the war, which led to the damage by the atomic bombing, should be acknowledged, and the state compensation provided.

3) Improvement of the current policies and measures on the protection and assistance for the Hibakusha.

4. Major Fields of Activities

1) Actions for the prevention to nuclear war and a total ban on nuclear weapons;

Telling stories of the HIbakusha to make known to the people their experiences, actual damage and after-effects of the A-bombing, both within and outside Japan; Sending A-bomb sufferers to the U.N., nuclear-weapon states and other countries and regions around the world; Helping to develop future peace workers by making known to them the experiences of suffering from the A-bombing.

2) Actions for the enactment of a Hibakusha-aid law providing state compensation for the Hibakusha themselves and bereaved families, as well as for a guarantee that there should never be another Hibakusha. These actions include signature drive, marches, sit-ins and many other forms.

3) Providing counseling and other assistance to the Hibakusha in their difficulties on health and living.

5. Major Activities since the Founding of HIDANKYO

HIDANKYO has held dozens of petition actions every year to urge both the Japanese government and the Diet to take steps to make know to the world community the full dimension of the damage caused by the A-bombing, and take the lead in promoting public opinion for the prevention of nuclear war and the elimination of nuclear weapons. HIDANKYO has also constantly demanded that the Japanese government should admit the Japan's state responsibility of launching the war, which eventually led to the atomic bombing, and that it should provide state compensation the bereaved families, as well as the sufferers on whom health damage was inflicted (though the enactment of a Hibakusha Aid Law).

The "Hibakusha Aid Law" demanded by HIDANKYO, therefore, is to include a pledge of the nation that it would do every effort so that there would never be another Hibakusha anywhere. The demand forms an integral part of the demand, "No to nuclear war, and abolition weapons".

While refusing to admit its war responsibility, the Japanese government and other state organs have had to concede to the demands of the Hibakusha, such as: enacting the Act for Atomic Bomb Sufferers’ Medical Care in 1957. And the Law Concering Special Measures for the Atomic Bomb Exposed in 1968. In December 1994, a law named the Atomic survivor’s Assistance Act was adopted, though this law neither provides state compensation nor admits the war responsibility of the state. HIDANKYO continues its legislative campaign, demanding a system for state compensation.

Some major projects in which HIDANKYO has taken active part include the preparation for the NGO International Symposium (to be referred to later) in 1977, and during and after the 1980s, survey on the "Fundamental Demands of the A-bomb Victims (prevention of nuclear war, elimination of nuclear weapons and Hibakusha Aid Law)", and nation-wide campaign to reach these goals.

In the movement to establish the Hibakusha Aid Law, HIDANKYO canvassed and obtained the endorsement signatures from more than two-thirds of all Diet members, as well as the resolutions adopted by some 75% of all Japanese local assemblies. The number of signatures collected nation-wide in the 1980s and 1990s has totaled over 20 million.

HIDANKYO is playing a major role in the movement against A and H bombs. Not only taking part in a number of peace events during summer, HIDANKYO sends its representatives all over Japan, who bear witness to their A-bomb experiences, helping to promote the public opinion for a ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Internationally, HIDANKYO sends many Hibakusha to other countries, who appeal the prevention of nuclear war and the abolition of nuclear arms, and inform people around the world of the damage caused by the A-bomb damage, thus helping to develop peace movement everywhere in the world. By these contributions, HIDANKYO has been nominated many times for the Nobel Peace Prize, since 1985.(See: Nomination for Nobel Prize by the IPB)

Message to the World
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