Members of Nihon Hidankyo have expressed their aspiration to expand their activity to younger generations to ban nuclear bombs at a meeting with reporters.

Co-chairperson Tanaka Terumi and other members of the Japanese group of hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivors, spoke to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday. It was their first news conference upon returning home, after the group received this year's Nobel Peace Prize at the award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on December 10.

Tanaka revealed that the Norwegian Nobel Committee chair, Joergen Frydnes, told him when they had dinner together that the committee awarded the prize to the group a year earlier than planned. He cited Frydnes as saying that Nobel committee members thought this year's award would help the group's activities for next year to have greater influence on public opinions.

Next year will mark 80 years since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Tanaka said he would like to take that milestone as an opportunity to further develop the group's activities. He called on young people to cooperate. He said he thought that the Nobel Committee is hoping for the young generation to continue hibakusha's efforts to reinforce, never to break, the "nuclear taboo." He called on the young to cooperate in his group's activities.

Tanaka explained why he mentioned the Japanese government's failure so far to compensate the sufferers of the atomic bombings. He mentioned it twice in his award speech. He said a democratic nation and its people should have an equal relationship. He said it is wrong that people are forced to endure their wartime sacrifice.

He added that he referred to the matter, because he felt a similar mistake is spreading around the world, and he wanted to call on the world to prevent war.