Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair Frydnes (right) presents a book to TUJ Assistant Dean Swinton (left) after the presentation on July 26, 2025, at TUJ.
Students, faculty and staff at Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) had a valuable opportunity to reflect on the importance of peace and humanity during a visit from representatives of the Norwegian Nobel Committee on July 26, 2025. The delegation was led by Chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes, who visited TUJ as part of the committee’s Japan tour following the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations).
Frydnes emphasized the importance of understanding the horrors of nuclear weapons and preserving the testimonies of the hibakusha, or the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He urged people to uphold the global taboo against nuclear weapons and ensure they are never used again, especially as the world enters a new and more unstable nuclear era. Yet today, nuclear-armed nations are not only modernizing their arsenals but also making open and frequent threats to use them.
“The message of the hibakusha is more urgent than ever before,” Frydnes told the audience at TUJ. “We, as a society, must insist on remembering and insist on listening to the hibakusha. They will no longer be with us in just a few years, their average age is 85. This is an opportunity for the rest of us, those who were not there, who did not experience the violence of the past. We need to listen and we need to act.”
Seeking Those Who Tap into Peace
Following the opening remarks, the event’s moderator, TUJ Assistant Dean for Leadership Initiatives and Senior Lecturer William Swinton, invited questions from the audience. These included inquiries about the Nobel Peace Prize selection process, why Nihon Hidankyo was chosen as the 2024 recipient, and the impact the award has had in recent months and may have in the future. Other questions focused on how the committee engages with tragic stories during the selection process.
Frydnes reflected on how human suffering is ever-present in our lives and in the media, yet emphasized the importance of focusing on those working for peace amid conflict.
“As human beings, we constantly confront the suffering of others in the media, in movies, on the streets and in our own families,” he said. “I think pain and suffering are part of who we are and what we have to live through. Of course, we’re always trying to build toward the positive. We look for those who tap into peace.”
He went on to stress that real change does not come from data alone, but from listening to personal stories and connecting with people. Encounters with activists like those from Nihon Hidankyo inspire resilience, courage and a continued commitment to peace.
High-Profile Guests Share Global Prospectives
TUJ frequently welcomes high-profile visitors, including renowned artists, business leaders, foreign diplomats, and government officials, to campus, offering students, faculty, and staff the chance to gain insight from their experiences. On July 1, filmmaker Ema Ryan Yamazaki visited TUJ to screen her Oscar-nominated short documentary “Instruments of a Beating Heart”. Born in Kobe, raised in Japan, and educated at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Yamazaki explores life between Japanese and American cultures. Her film portrays the quiet drama of a first-grade student at an elementary school in Setagaya.
Also this year, Genevieve Apaloo, Ghana’s Ambassador to Japan and Singapore, delivered a special lecture in June, and India’s Ambassador to Japan, Sibi George, visited Temple Japan to share firsthand insights into global affairs.
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