The Nobel Peace Prize 2024

Their Majesties The King and Queen, and Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince and Crown Princess attended the ceremony at Oslo Town Hall. 

In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated:

"In response to the atomic bomb attacks of August 1945, a global movement arose whose members have worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons. Gradually, a powerful international norm developed, stigmatising the use of nuclear weapons as morally unacceptable. This norm has become known as “the nuclear taboo”. The testimony of the Hibakusha – the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – is unique in this larger context."

The ceremony took place in Oslo Town Hall. Photo: Cornelius Poppe, NTB

The chair of the Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, presented the committee’s reasoning for the award and emphasized the important role Nihon Hidankyo has played as a disseminator of knowledge and influencer in the fight against nuclear weapons.

The three representatives of Nihon Hidankyo: Terumi Tanaka, Shigemitsu Tanaka and Toshiyuki Mimaki, with the Peace Prize medal and diploma. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB

Hibakusha

The Japanese term 'hibakusha' refers to those who survived the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 and the ensuing radioactive radiation. The hibakusha and their descendants are at the core of the grassroots movement that received the Nobel Peace Prize today.

"These historical witnesses have helped to generate and consolidate widespread opposition to nuclear weapons around the world by drawing on personal stories, creating educational campaigns based on their own experience, and issuing urgent warnings against the spread and use of nuclear weapons. The Hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons."

Terumi Tanaka delivered Nihon Hidankyo’s Nobel lecture. Photo: Reuters / Leonhard Foeger

Terumi Tanaka delivered Nihon Hidankyo’s Nobel lecture, in which he described, among other things, the horrific consequences of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Audience at the Royal Palace 

At noon, His Majesty the King received the three representatives of Nihon Hidankyo in an audience at the Royal Palace. Her Majesty The Queen and Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were also in attendance.

Terumi Tanaka, Shigemitsu Tanaka and Toshiyuki Mimaki were granted audience at the Royal Palace. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB

Save the Children Peace Prize Party

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess also attended the Save the Children Peace Prize Party at the Nobel Peace Center this morning.

The event, featuring interviews and entertainment, has been a regular part of the Nobel program for many years, with the year’s Peace Prize laureates as guests of honor. This year, the organizing committee consisted of twelve seventh-graders from Grünerløkka, Kampen, and Vålerenga schools. Children from fifth to seventh grade make up the audience, and many schools are streaming the event as well.

Terumi Tanaka and the other laureates received a warm welcome from the children. Photo: Sebastian Kaufmann Jacobsen / NTB

The Peace Prize laureates Terumi Tanaka, Shigemitsu Tanaka and Toshiyuki Mimaki attended the Save the Children Peace Prize Party, where they answered questions from the children. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB

Banquet

This evening, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will attend the traditional Nobel Banquet held at the Grand Hotel in honor of the Peace Prize laureates.