A delegation from Nihon Hidankyo, an atomic bomb survivors group based in Hiroshima and Nagasaki prefectures, arrived in Oslo on Sunday night to attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony Tuesday.
An airplane carrying the delegation touched down around 7:30 p.m. at Oslo Airport. Nihon Hidankyo's three co-chairs, including Terumi Tanaka, a 92-year-old hibakusha atomic bomb survivor who is set to deliver a speech at the ceremony, addressed around 30 Japanese and other journalists at the airport's VIP terminal.
Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairperson Jorgen Watne Frydnes, 40, attended the session. The three co-chairs looked overcome with emotion as they held flowers given by the committee chief.
Tanaka said he was "extremely nervous" about his upcoming speech.
"We are old, but the nuclear situation remains very severe," he said. "I want to make a stronger appeal about what the hibakusha have called for and convey my wish that young people will continue our efforts."
Another co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, said that he hates war and nuclear weapons, adding that peace is the best. Shigemitsu Tanaka, 84, the other co-chair, said: "We believe this award is also for all hibakusha who preceded us. We will work so that hibakusha are not created again."
The delegation comprises 30 people aged 32 to 92, including children and grandchildren of hibakusha. Of them, 23 boarded the plane that left Tokyo's Haneda airport and arrived in Norway via Copenhagen while the other seven will travel to Oslo through a different route.
The award ceremony will start at 1 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a banquet. Tanaka and others will meet Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, while some hibakusha will engage with local youths at high schools and universities. The delegation will return to Japan on Friday morning.
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