An online event was held before the 5th anniversary of ICAN = International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Setsuko Thurlow, a Hiroshima A-bomb survivor living in Canada, gave a speech at the award ceremony, saying, "I want you to believe in the conviction of the A-bomb survivors that nuclear weapons should never be tolerated."

The event was organized by the NGO "Peace Boat" which joins the operation of ICAN, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.



Actor Tomoko Saito read a picture book based on Setsuko Thurlow's speech at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony. He introduced his experience of being able to escape with the help of a voice saying, "Can you see the light? Crawl over there."



Looking back on the ICAN award in a video message, Mr. Thurlow said, "I felt a strong sense of unity with the people who lost their lives in the atomic bombing. The memories of sharing the joy with the people I worked with are still vivid in my mind. I will not leave," he said.



He said, "I want you to believe the conviction of the atomic bomb survivors that we should never allow the cruel nuclear weapons that burn people up and take their lives over time. Tell them that they will use nuclear weapons like Russia is doing now." Please understand my belief that actions that scare people are absolutely unacceptable."

Satoshi Kawasaki, one of the organizers and a member of the International Steering Committee of ICAN, said, "Winning the Nobel Peace Prize gave me confidence that the abolition of nuclear weapons is positive and feasible. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Now that the Conference of the Parties has been held and the action plan has been adopted, the process of abolishing nuclear weapons is steadily moving forward."



After that, "I think that the treaty that nuclear weapons are inhumane has made it impossible for the nuclear powers to do whatever they want. The idea that nuclear weapons are weapons that cannot be used and must be eliminated. is spreading among nuclear-weapon states, and it is necessary to raise public opinion and increase pressure."