RIMINI (ITALPRESS) – At the Rimini Meeting, a voice both ancient and new was raised: that of the Hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Eighty years after those explosions that forever marked human history, two extraordinary witnesses—Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of the Nihon Hidankyo Organization and 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Professor Masao Tomonaga, a physician at Nagasaki University—explained what it means to live after the nuclear hell and transform pain into a commitment to peace. The meeting, moderated by Bernhard Scholz, president of the Meeting Foundation, was accompanied by a symbolic gesture: the presentation of 10,000 origami papers, made by Japanese communities as a prayer for peace. "Every fold is a prayer," they recalled, "so that memory may become hope."
The dialogue began with the reading of a message sent by Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki: "This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the atomic bombing. The number of survivors is dwindling; we are entering a generation that no longer knows the experience of war. This makes the testimony of the Hibakusha even more precious: it is a seed of peace that must reach the entire world."
Toshiyuki Mimaki, who was only three years old when the bomb fell on Hiroshima, recounted his personal story and that of the Hidankyo movement, founded in 1956. "Our belief," he said, "is that nuclear weapons and humanity cannot coexist. Humanity must live." Remembering his predecessor, Sunao Tsuboi, Mimaki cited his motto: "Never give up." These words have accompanied decades of civil and international struggles for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Moments of great intensity permeated his story: "In 2014, speaking in the United States, I began by apologizing for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. And at the end, a young American woman handed me a letter: 'We must apologize to Japan for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.' I understood then that true peace comes from mutual forgiveness." Mimaki then recalled the honor of meeting President Sergio Mattarella in Hiroshima in March 2025: “He told me that our fight for a better world affects everyone, because we transform pain into a warning and tragedy into commitment.”
Professor Masao Tomonaga, born in Nagasaki in 1945, has intertwined his biography as a Hibakusha with that of a doctor and researcher. "Many of us," he explained, "survived the initial devastation and, though scarred in body and soul, had the strength to rebuild. After just three months, they began to rebuild their shacks and start new families. Today, the average age of Hibakusha is 86: yet we continue to bear witness." Tomonaga recounted the results of scientific research: "Radiation has damaged the DNA of stem cells. The abnormalities can remain silent for decades, causing tumors even 80 years later. I myself had prostate cancer, which was treated with new radiological therapies. But the effects of exposure are permanent: this is why nuclear weapons are anti-human by their very nature."
The Japanese doctor recalled how the Hibakusha movement has so far prevented the use of a third atomic bomb: "We have shouted to the world: Nagasaki must be the last city hit by an atomic bomb. But today the nuclear taboo is breaking down. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Moscow's threats, the possibility of a new nuclear use has become concrete." He then appealed to young people: "We Hibakusha will not be here forever. In a few years, our generation will disappear. It is up to young people to create global solidarity, capable of transcending the boundaries between nuclear and non-nuclear states. They have the right and responsibility to build a world without nuclear weapons."
Both Mimaki and Tomonaga emphasized the importance of transmitting memory: “In the schools of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, children learn the exact date and time of the explosions, visit museums, listen to our stories. They sing the song of peace. We want young people from other countries to learn about our experience as well.” Looking at the Meeting volunteers, Mimaki concluded: “I was struck by the dedication of the young people. You are the true protagonists of peace. I would like young people from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to come to the Meeting one day to work with you, to build friendship and solidarity.” His final words resonated like a testament: “Never give up. It is the phrase that has guided my life and that I offer to young people as a promise of peace.”
The meeting demonstrated how it is possible to experience memory not as resentment but as responsibility. "Every victim," Scholz recalled, "is not a number, but a person with a life and a story. The testimony of the Hibakusha tells us that evil can be overcome, transformed into a greater good." The Meeting confirms itself as a crossroads where memory becomes present, a place where the voice of survivors becomes a call to action, today, to build peace.
– Rimini Meeting 2025 Photos –
(ITALPRESS).
