By Prensa Latina,
Tokyo : Hundreds of Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki concluded their journey around the world on board the Ship of Peace Tuesday, to request the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The 101 survivors, known as “hibakusha” in Japan, and with a 75 year-old standard, carried out a trip in the last four months on 22 ports of the five continents.
Akira Kawasaki, director of the project, highlighted that the movement against the nuclear weapons is alive and this it is an important message that they could share with the world.
“We were also so with prisoners of war Japan had during World War II, we had the opportunity to know the other side of the coin,” Kikuyo Nakamura pointed out.
At their return home, the 700 crew members of the Ship of Peace told anecdotes of what happened during the trip.
Toshiko Tanaka, 69 years old, underlined that in Latin America, there is a deep interest for peace. They are very passionate pacifist people, he added.
The survivors of the tragedy received the Juan Francisco León Order in Venezuela and were declared illustrious visitors of the city of Caracas.
In Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain, they lit the flame of peace in an organized act for them and in the city of Barcelona they visited the Catalan Parliament, with which they agreed to work in a combined way to create pacifist policies.
The Ship of Peace is a non government organization that takes its 25th anniversary with this trip around the world.
The bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused more than 120,000 dead people in August 1945. Other 400,000 people lost their life months and years later, due to the sequels caused by the radiation.
Currently, more than 270 survivors are still suffering consequences of the chemical radiation.