Although she was born long after the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by atomic bombs, 58-year-old Yoshiko Watanabe couldn't stop weeping on Friday night when she learned atomic survivors had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , was awarded for its decadeslong activism against nuclear weapons. The survivors, known as hibakusha, see the prize and the international attention as their last chance to get their message out to younger generations.

For many Japanese survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their relatives, Friday’s awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a Japanese organization against nuclear weapons gives them hope for a new momentum to push for a nuclear-free world.