Toshiyuki Mimaki: Let's save humanity from nuclear weapons

An interview with a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast, co-chair of Japan's Nihano Hidankyo Foundation, and winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. Mimaki recounts his meeting with Pope Francis in Japan in 2019 and calls on all world leaders to commit to the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Destroyed buildings. Tabula rasa. So that you can see the sea where before the city was in the background. This is an indelible memory that remains in the heart of a three-year-old boy, a witness to a terrible, unimaginable event that unfortunately happened. It is a memory that Toshiyuki Mimaki shares with L'Osservatore Romano. Today, he is 82 years old, and since that day, 6 August 1945, when the atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima, his city, he has not stopped thinking about that day, which changed the history of mankind, but even before that destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

A few days ago, on 10 December, Mimaki received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. He did so as co-president of the Nihon Hidankyo which has fought courageously and tirelessly for nuclear disarmament since its founding in 1956. The Japan Foundation brings together hibakushathat is, those who survived the double American atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War. The Foundation's involvement Nihon Hidankyo is based precisely on the power of testimony, the gentle power of storytelling. This value was also recognised by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which, in awarding the prize, declared that "we all have a duty to fulfill the mission of hibakusha. Their moral compass is our legacy. Now it's our turn. Disarmament efforts require urgent public appeals."

As the World Day of Peace approaches, Toshiyuki Mimaki answers our questions and, above all, acknowledges that he is the heir to the "efforts of his predecessors" who established the Foundation Nihon Hidankyo: those who, like him, survived the unspeakable event that took place on that August morning 79 years ago. "At the age of three," he says, "my mother, my younger brother and I were hit by radiation from the bomb while looking for our father, who worked for the Hiroshima railroad.

Many people died and the buildings disappeared in flames so that you could see all the way to the sea. My brother is currently being treated for brain cancer. As hard as it is to relive these images in my mind, sharing the experience is at the heart of the mission Hibakusha: to remember the tragedy so that it never happens again. It is a task as urgent as ever. Sadly, in a few years' time, not even the last survivors of the atomic bomb will be among the living. So what can be done to keep the memory alive for future generations? "The city of Hiroshima," he explains, "has taken on the role of passing on the testimony of survivors and has created a system of educating young people as messengers".

For Mimaki, the role played by Pope Francis in favour of nuclear disarmament is very important. "I met the Pope when he came to visit us," he recalls, "he gave me a medal in a red case. I asked him to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons. I keep a photograph of that day". In the face of this commitment against nuclear weapons, never before had there been so much talk about the possible use of atomic bombs, and even the possibility of nuclear conflict.

Foolishness for those who, like Toshiyuki Mimaki, still relive the horror of that day when the bomb was first used against the civilian population. "If nuclear weapons had been used," he remarks bitterly, "it would have meant the end of mankind. That is why I call on the rulers of the countries that possess nuclear weapons to commit themselves to their elimination". The leader Nihon Hidankyo is particularly concerned about the situation in Gaza and Ukraine. 'Russian President Putin,' he recalls with trepidation, 'has lowered the level of the limit on nuclear weapons so that they can be used at any time. It is a frightening situation. Come to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, everyone, and visit the atomic bomb museum! You will see how much damage nuclear weapons can do to people.

Alessandro Gisotti

vaticannews.va / gnews.cz-jav