HIROSHIMA PEACE CULTURE FOUNDATIONPEACE CULTURE
Vol. 1

No.67

May 2012 (semiannual)

Here Comes the Future
to do so. We must change our way of life.
4) We love our world. We love nature. We love music, art,
expression, growth, and love itself. We love each other. We
do not want to fight or argue with anyone, and we will
resist every effort to set us against each other.
As chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation,
my view of the world is pretty biased toward peace. Still, my
experiences in hundreds of schools with thousands of young
people have convinced me that young people today (up to
about 40) are the most peaceful, nonviolent, loving generationof human beings that have ever existed on Earth. They are certainly far more advanced than I was at their age. The questionis, will the “adults” get out of the way and let them save theworld, or will we kill them all on our way out.

by Steven Leeper

Chairman of this Foundation

Project Now, the book, the art events, the building across from
Parco. Hiroshimajin Daigaku, the new college that makes allof Hiroshima its campus. Peace Day Live, the global concert
on September 21, 2012. Masterpeace, the movement, theclubs, the global concert in Cairo on September 21, 2014. The
Shift Network, global telesummits for peace. Pathways toPeace, globally coordinated local programs for peace.
Footprints for Peace, globally organized walks for peace andthe abolition of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. EarthVillage. Earth Charter. World Referendum, for global voting.
World Federalist website, a government of the people, by thepeople and for the people. The Arab Spring. The Occupy
Movement. So much is happening so quickly.
Young people are taking their future into their own hands.
They are no longer waiting for the adults (governments andcorporations) to decide. They are creating a better future forthemselves. Some work politically, through protests, strikes,
walks, recall elections, sit-ins, tent cities, noncooperation, andcivil disobedience. Others deliberately avoid politics, seeking
to change the world through massive outpourings of peace
through art, music, prayer, travel, and person-to-person communication. One way or another, young people are waking up,
looking around, and saying, “We have to do something before
it’s too late.”
Tactics and messages vary, but certain universal themes
are emerging.
1) This planet and human society were not created for the happiness of a tiny ruling majority, the 1%. We insist that our
resources and our systems benefit everyone; the 99% need
to be happy as well. We must change the current economic
system.
2) We do not want to fight. We do not want violence. We are afamily. We want to get to know each other, share with eachother, and live together in peace. We must change the militaristic political system.
3) We do not want to destroy the environment that supports us.
We want to live in respectful reverence for nature, and weare willing to live simply and use less energy and resources

This question will probably be answered in the next five toten years, which is why Mayors for Peace continues its
Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons (the 2020
Vision Campaign). A number of people have asked me lately,“What’s happening with Mayors for Peace? Haven’t been
hearing much in the news.”
I guess it’s true that Mayors for Peace has been relatively
quiet lately, but that’s not because we’ve been sitting aroundwaiting for the future. We, like the young people who are helping and inspiring us, are busy creating it.
You have not been hearing much lately because our firststeps have necessarily been internal. We are making deep, fundamental changes. Now that we have reached our goal of 5000
cities, we are preparing an important shift—from growing
larger to growing stronger. Though we continue our recruitment efforts, we will be putting far more effort into creating
and funding a powerful campaign organization capable of

The 8 th Executive Conference of Mayors for Peace held in
Granollers, Spain1

implementing campaigns quickly and simultaneously in many
languages all across the globe.
The Executive Conference in Granollers, Spain lastNovember was a remarkable turning point that confirmed andofficially initiated this shift. For first time ever, we had participants from Africa and Latin America, and the energy from the“global south” was highly influential in all our discussions. At
that crucial meeting, we decided to celebrate the 5000-city
milestone with a global A-bomb exhibition campaign. We arepreparing a new set of posters now that we will present to theworld in Vienna this May, and we intend to have these posters
displayed in as many of our member cities as possible during
Peace Week (Aug. 3 to 10) 2012. Of course, we will be happy
if the exhibitions are shown any time in 2012, especiallyaround International Peace Day (Sept. 21) or United Nations
Day (Oct. 24) and Disarmament Week (Oct. 24 to 31). But thisproject is not merely an effort to hold a lot of A-bomb exhibitions. It will test and foster our ability to stimulate and administer a global campaign. We expect to learn a great deal fromthis first truly global project.
The Executive Conference also decided to expand ourpetition campaign calling for an immediate start to negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention. This signature drive
has been underway in Japan since 2010, but we all agreed totake it global and make it go viral on the Internet. For this, wewill need the help of our young supporters, the ones who demonstrated an ability to use the Internet to gather hundreds ofthousands of signatures in a few days.
Above all, we agreed that, for administrative and campaign purposes: we need to 1) define global sub-regions, 2)
assign, authorize and define the roles and responsibilities ofleadership cities to manage those sub-regions, and 3) find away to get more of our members involved in funding the campaign. These agreements obviously imply profound management changes requiring careful consideration. Therefore, wecame to another epoch-making agreement—to hold a staff-level working group meeting in Hannover, Germany, to overhaul
our management and campaign systems.
In January, key staff from nine cities attended the firstmeeting of what we are calling the Hannover Process. We
spent three days brainstorming, identifying good ideas, andexploring the cultural and organizational problems they raise.
At the end, we all felt we had just begun, but we all agreed it
was an excellent beginning. Currently, several concrete proposals are being deliberated within the nine Hannover Process
cities. The Process will continue by email and Skype with thegoal of presenting unanimously agreed proposals to the delegation of executive cities that will attend the NPT Prepcom in
Vienna in May.
The ultimate goal of the Hannover Process is to develop a
set of management proposals that will be formally approved
for implementation at the 2013 General Conference inHiroshima. Here, too, we are planning major changes. In addition to inviting member mayors from around the world, we
intend to invite national government officials and all the top
NGO leaders. Our intent is to make the 2013 General
Conference of Mayors for Peace a substantive international
disarmament conference that will establish shared strategies
and tactics for a unified global campaign. This campaign will
culminate with a disarmament summit in Hiroshima in 2015
attended by heads of governments, the launch a nuclear weapons convention process, and the total elimination of nuclear
weapons by 2020.

To make this plan successful, we need your help. Please:1) Go to your mayor and ask him or her to go to Hiroshima forthe 2013 General Conference. (Mayors do not have to bemembers of Mayors for Peace to attend this conference, but
we assume they will join as well.)2) Go to your City Hall and ask them to sponsor an A-bomb
exhibition in your city in 2012. For materials and details,
contact:mayorcon@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp
3) Go to our website, sign our petition, and send it to all of
your friends, relatives, acquaintances and enemies. Visit:
mayorsforpeace.org or 2020visioncampaign.org.
4) Get involved in saving the world. Our Mayors for Peace
website will help you help us rid the world of the nuclear
threat, but hundreds of wonderful groups are doing wonderful things right in your area. Please look them over, choose
the one you like most, and join the movement.
The “adults” (governments and corporations) don’t reallywant to kill us, but they are dominance-seeking war-culture
dinosaurs desperately in need of enlightened, peace-culture
guidance. They need to know another world is possible, thatyou are willing to sacrifice to move into that other world, andthat you will resist wholeheartedly the destruction of this planet or any group of people on it. Please find any way you can tosend them this message before their old war-culture habits
carry us all right over the cliff. Thank you.

Mayors for Peace Web Site

Profile2

Steven Leeper
Born in the U.S. in 1947; obtained a Master’s Degree in clinical psychology from West Georgia University in the U.S.
Worked as English instructor at Hiroshima YMCA.
Co-President of Transnet Ltd., a consulting, translation andinterpretation business, Overseas Liaison Advisor for Molten
Corporation, U.S. Representative for Mayors for Peace, andExpert Advisor for this Foundation. Took Office as chairmanof this Foundation on April 23, 2007.

Mayors for Peace Membership Exceeds Its Target of 5,000
Mayors for Peace, a conference of cities established in 1982, seeks to eliminate nuclear weapons and build world peace
through various activities. Membership in this conference exceeded 5,000 city members on 16 September 2011. On April 1
membership stands at 5,221.
After passing 4,000 members on 1 July 2010, over one thousand additional cities have joined in the year and two months
since, expanding the circle of solidarity for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons into ever more regions of the world.
Mayors for Peace will continue to grow and nurture cooperation among cities, creating strong local networks while promoting global unity.
Membership Growth by Year

Membership Cities (April 1,2012)(Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division)

International Symposium for Peace“The Road to Abolition−What Civil Society Needs to Do Now”
This was the 17th Symposium in this series, which began
in 1995. (The Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation has been asponsor 13 times.)

Program[Opening]
Opening Performance / BUNKEN (Guitarist)
Special Guest Speech / Yoko Ono[Special Event / Passing On A-Bomb Experiences]	Introduction to Messages from Hibakusha Website “Memories
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”(Produced by the Asahi Shimbun
Company)	Recitation of A-Bomb Testimonies / Hiroshima Ondoku-no-kai[Panel Discussion](Panelists) George Perkovich, vice president of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (U.S.A.) / Tilman Ruff,
Representative of the International Campaign to Abolish
Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) (Europe) / Kazumi Mizumoto,from Hiroshima University and vice president of theHiroshima Peace Institute (Japan) / Motoko Mekata, professor at Chuo University̓s Faculty of Policy Studies (Japan)(Coordinator) Toshiaki Miura - Asahi Shimbun Editorial Writer

The speech in Prague by United States President Obama, theadoption of a new START (new Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty) between Russia and America, the adoption of a final
document at the NPT Review Conference, with momentum
growing towards the abolition of nuclear weapons, an international symposium for peace entitled “The Road To
Abolition—What Civil Society Needs To Do Now” was heldon the afternoon of July 31st (Sunday) at the International
Conference Center Hiroshima. The goal was to discuss measures the international community should take to accelerate
this trend and stimulate further international public demand.
The symposium was hosted by Hiroshima City, the Hiroshima
Peace Culture Foundation and The Asahi Shimbun, with support from Nagasaki City, the Nagasaki Foundation for the
Promotion of Peace, Hiroshima Home Television Co. andNagasaki Culture Telecasting Corp.

Special Guest
Yoko Ono, the recipient of the 8th Hiroshima Art Prize which
is given to contemporary artists that have contributed to peace,offered a keynote message saying “No more Hiroshima” is not
to remind us of the victims, but is something we want to do forthem, give them a world with no more Hiroshimas. She
strongly declared that if all the people who are pushing for aworld without nuclear weapons do whatever small good deeds
they can, they will lead us to world peace.

Yoko Ono (far right) happily receiving a paper crane lei from juniorand senior high school peace club3

Special Event / Passing On A-Bomb Experiences
After the introduction of the Asahi Shimbun website“Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”, the testimonies ofKazue Sawada and Satomi Maeda were read from the site by
Mie Morioka and Keiko Miyagawa, members of theHiroshima Ondonku-no-kai (a storytelling club), and Ms.

Tilman Ruff - To spread understanding of the humanitarian
aspects of nuclear weapons, it is necessary for civil society
to strongly influence each country’s government to begin
negotiations for a nuclear prohibition treaty.
Motoko Mekata - Perhaps a single person has little power,
but everyone acting with a single mind can bring about a
big change in society. This year, in a positive meaning, isthe starting point for nuclear disarmament, with each person thinking of a message he or she definitely wants
Hiroshima to send to the world.
Toshiaki Miura - Foreigners have used the word “resilient”
to extol the people of Japan. This means not giving up
under any condition, to remain resolute. Hiroshima andNagasaki were also “resilient”. I think it would be great if
one frame of today’s symposium was “resilience”. I wantto keep conveying it this way in the future.

Sawada and Ms. Maeda appealed for peace from the stage.
Panel Discussion

The Panel Discussion(Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division)

Reports From Panelists
George Perkovich - Abolition of nuclear weapons is similar
to the abolition of slavery. People who fear change refuse
the abolition of nuclear weapons. Now is the time to tell
the world the experience of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as
the trend is moving toward abolishing nuclear weapons. It
is important to build trust internationally so that “security”
can be achieved without using nuclear weapons.
Tilman Ruff - Nuclear reactors and spent fuel storage pools
can become terrible weapons producing radioactivity.
Wherever you are in the world, if a nuclear weapon isused, you will be harmed. Let’s make a strong appeal forthe abolition of nuclear weapons from our civil society.
Kazumi Mizumoto - Japan has four nuclear-related policies:
the three non-nuclear principles, the defense policy relying
on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, promotion of peaceful use of
nuclear energy (nuclear power generation) and foreign
policy seeking for nuclear disarmament. We need a broad
national debate to align the four policies in the same direction.
Motoko Mekata - As with the abolition of anti-personnel
mines, in regards to nuclear weapons, it is important for
many people to share the idea of spreading internationally
the new value of abolishing nuclear weapons internationally. With respect to the nuclear damage experienced in
Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima, all citizens of theworld must raise their voices and say that frightening
things are frightening, and bad things are bad urging substantive advances by the Japanese government toward
nuclear disarmament.

Hiroshima Peace ForumThe Hiroshima Peace Forum, which is co-sponsored by theHiroshima Peace Culture Foundation and Hiroshima City, hasbeen held since 2002 and is an opportunity for citizens to takeanother look at Hiroshima as the “home of peace” and think
about what can be done regarding peace and atomic bombs. It
was held six times, from May to July this year, on every other
Saturday, and there were 94 attendees, ranging from teenagers
to 70-year-olds.
As in the previous year, a Hiroshima City University
course “Peace Studies in Hiroshima: Learning Practical
Measures” was held in conjunction with the forum, to learn
from outside specialists about the inheritance of A-bomb experiences and hands-on peace activities, and the two complemented each other, enhancing the content of the course. In
addition, the results of the group discussions were presented ina symposium format, so there was a very lively exchange ofviews.
“We heard speakers from a variety of fields relevant topeace. I learned many valuable things,” and, “it was very helpful, as a wide age range of people participated, and we wereable to exchange diverse opinions” were among the impressions received from participants in the survey.
(Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Outreach Division)

Discussion by Panelists
After the panelists gave reports on their areas of expertise, thecoordinator, Toshiaki Miura, led discussions on the meaning of
the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, what’s
going on now with disarmament in the international community, and what we can do as a civil society. A variety of proposals and opinions were given by the panelists.
Kazumi Mizumoto - We must accurately report what welearn from the Fukushima situation. The military andpeaceful utilizations of nuclear energy are inextricably
linked, and the risks of both are very high.
George Perkovich - President Obama tried to show leadership in his speech in Prague by advocating a nuclear-freeworld, but there is a lot of resistance. Civil society needs
support and leadership from leaders like President Obamain other countries.

Group Discussion at the first meeting of the Peace Forum

4

The 66th Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Ceremony

Conveying the “Spirit of Hiroshima”
to Junior Diplomats in the Field ofArms Reduction

Sharing the experiences of hibakusha andthoughts of peace

On August 8th, the City of Hiroshima held the Hiroshima Peace

Memorial Ceremony in Peace Memorial Park, marking thesixty-sixth year since the dropping of the atomic bomb.

Surviving family members were joined by nearly 50,000 peo-

ple in praying for the souls of A-bomb victims and eternal
peace.

The ceremony began at 8 a.m. with the mayor of

Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, and two representatives of thevictims’ families placing three volumes of the Register of theNames of Atomic Bomb Victims, containing the names of

5,785 victims confirmed to have passed away during the past

Participants visiting the A-bomb Dome

year, into the stone coffin in the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb
Victims. The addition of these names brings the total number

Participants from the Arms Reduction Fellowship Program, aof victims recorded in the register to 275,230 people and thegroup of specialists from the governments of twenty-fivenumber of volumes of the register to 100. In addition, one

nations to promote arms reduction, learned about the “Thename was added to the single volume of the Nagasaki Register

Spirit of Hiroshima” and truth of the effects of atomic weap-of the Names of Atomic Bomb Victims (for those desiring

ons through inspections and seminars during their visit fromdedication at Hiroshima), bringing the total to nine people.

23 to 25 September.

The ceremony continued with an address by Takashi

The program has been a training scheme endorsed by the

Kijima, head of the Hiroshima City Council, and flower offer-

United Nations since 1979. Participants have been visiting
Hiroshima annually since 1983. More than 750 people haveings from each of the representatives. At 8:15, Shinobu

The evening of the 23rd the participants were greeted by

the children’s representative, rang the Peace Bell, which was

Nakane, representing the victims’ families, and Shota Tanaka,

participated in the program in Hiroshima thus far.

Major Matsui of Hiroshima, and met with atomic bomb eye-followed by a moment of silence.

witnesses and members of the public at their welcome recep-

This was followed by Mayor Matsui’s first Peacetion.

Declaration, which included an account from an A-bomb sur-

The next day the participants visited the A-bomb Dome,vivor. In the Declaration, the mayor stated strongly that “thevictims of the atomic bomb. They then visited Hiroshima

what they experienced and their desire for peace. Then, we

the Children’s Peace Monument and offered flowers to thetime has come for the rest of us to learn from all the hibakusha

Peace Memorial Museum as well as Hiroshima National Peacemust communicate what we learn to future generations and theMemorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.

rest of the world.” In addition, he expressed his condolences

In the afternoon the participants were given an explanation

for those whose lives were lost in the Great East Japanof Mayors for Peace by Steven Leeper, the Hiroshima Peace

Earthquake, calling for a revised domestic energy policy inCulture Foundation Chairman. After this they watched the film

light of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear“Hiroshima – A Mothers’ Prayer” followed by a talk given by

Power Station.

Mr Keijiro Matsushima, a survivor of the atomic bombing

After the mayor’s Peace Declaration, children’s represen-

appointed a special envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

tatives Masahiro Fukuhara and Nanoka Fujita read theprogram.

overflowing with hope and dreams.”

They gained much important information during their study

Commitment to Peace and promised “to act to create a future

Feedback from participants included, “the tragedy of the

The entire contents of the Peace Declaration are available

atomic bombing from the perspective of the victims was fullyon the City of Hiroshima home page. From the main page,

Peace is an important initiative for world peace that all people

Peace Declaration. Clicking Peace Declaration again will takeconveyed ... this program is well constructed”; “Mayors for

click on Peace Declaration, Protest Letters, Etc. and then on

should support”; and “I must convey to my government theyou to this year’s Peace Declaration. It can also be viewed onthings I have learned here and push urgently for them to play a

the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum web site (http://www.

greater role in bringing about the end of nuclear weapons”.

(Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division)

pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/index_e2.html).

5(General Affairs Division)

“This opportunity to work together with the hibakusha haschanged the way I understand atomic weapons. I see now howutterly terrifying and regrettable it is that something as horrible as this should have ever happened,” said one student.
“Thinking about the survivors and all those who died in agony
because of the A-bomb I feel nuclear weapons are something
we should never maintain or use again,” said another. Yetanother student explained, “Not only a sense of straightforward fear but also a sense of duty to never to let such a tragedy happen again welled up in me”. “I want to work for peace,”
said another student, “so that the world will be filled withexpressions of happiness”. “I strongly feel our generation must
continue to spread the message that war is wrong,” was theopinion of another student.
These drawings given to the Foundation were presented by
the hibakusha in order to help us better understand the horrorof the atomic experience. They are also given to us so that we
can understand the true suffering that nuclear weapons cause
while teaching us what Hiroshima was like at that time.

The 9 Meeting to Commemorate
the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Victims
thRenewing our commitment to future generations and the abolition of nuclear weapons(Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Outreach Division)

A presentation by Tomo-minami Elementary School Student Council

Since 2003, this Foundation has held the Meeting toCommemorate the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Victims on August
9th, the day the A-bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The purpose is to express our condolences for the victims of theNagasaki bombing and our solidarity as a city that suffered asimilar fate. We also reaffirm our commitment to peace.
At this year’s meeting, around 150 people gathered in the
Memorial Hall of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. As
they watched the live feed of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb
Victims Memorial Peace Prayer Ceremony, they joined in the
moment of silence at 11:02, marking the exact time the bomb
was dropped. They then watched a DVD of Katsuji Yoshidarecounting what he witnessed in the bombing of Nagasaki.
Collaborating on the commemoration for the first time wasthe citizen’s group Hiroshima to Nagasaki wo tsunageru purojekuto (Connecting Hiroshima-Nagasaki Project), and many
events by younger members were on the day’s menu, such aspresentations by Tomo-minami Elementary School student
council and The No Nuke Network: Students of Hiroshima
Against Nuclear Weapons, an organization created by juniorand senior high school students from Hiroshima intent on
abolishing nuclear weapons. The commemoration concluded
with an address from Sunao Tsuboi, Director of the Hiroshima
Prefectural Confederation of A-Bomb Sufferers Organizations.

“Departed souls under arow of pine trees on the
Sanyo Highway.”
Natsu Nishiie(Motomachi High School,
Standard Stream
Creative Expression
Course, 2nd Year),
Shinichiro Arai
(Eyewitness to the Atomic
bomb)(Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division)“The day the bomb was dropped – Seeing A-bomb victims for the
first time.”
Saki Mukaida (Motomachi High School, Standard Stream Creative
Expression Course, 3rd Year),
Sadae Kasaoka (Eyewitness to the Atomic bomb)Completion of the “Images of the
A-bomb Holocaust”: Experiences of
the Atomic Bomb Victims
Since 2007, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation and theHiroshima Prefectural Motomachi High School Creative
Expression Course have brought student volunteers andA-bomb eyewitnesses together to create the “Images of the
A-bomb Holocaust”, a graphic record of the experiences of theFoundation’s official hibakusha.
Since 2010 five hibakusha and eleven students haveworked in five groups to produce the drawings. They recently
presented eleven completed drawings to the Foundation.
On 4 July, the five hibakusha – Shinichiro Arai, Sadae
Kasaoka, Kenji Kitagawa, Masahiro Kunishige and Takashi
Teramoto – together with the eleven Creative Expression
Course students attended the completion ceremony at theMotomachi High School Gallery.
6“The utter transformation of busy downtown Hiroshima – Shintenchi.”Ami Yamanaka (Motomachi High School, Standard Stream Creative
Expression Course, 2nd Year),
Kenji Kitagawa (Eyewitness to the Atomic bomb)In the latter half of the May seminar a lecture was given
by Keiko Ogura, representing the Hiroshima Interpreters for
Peace group, on the topic “Convey the Meaning of Hiroshima
to the World”. She talked about her experiences as an interpreter and the message we should send out to the world.
In the latter half of the July seminar, a lecture was given
by Steven Leeper, chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture
Foundation, on the present state of affairs concerning nuclear
weapons and why the time is right to fulfil the goals of the
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Approximately 100 high school students, who are scheduled to go on exchange programs, also participated in student
seminars held on 28 May, 11 June and 16 July.
We received such comments as, “I didn’t know I knew solittle about nuclear weapons,” or “I want to tell the worldabout Hiroshima when I go overseas”.

“Screams, suffering, and finally anger.”
Haruka Nomura (Motomachi High School, Standard Stream Creative
Expression Course, 2nd Year),
Masahiro Kunishige (Eyewitness to the Atomic bomb)(Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Outreach Division)

Meeting via
the Web Conference System“in the Brack Rain”
Momo Onaka (Motomachi High School, Standard Stream Creative
Expression Course, 2nd Year),Takashi Teramoto (Eyewitness to the Atomic bomb)

Let’s Convey Our Message in English
Hiroshima Seminar

At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum we conduct the“Let’s Convey Our Message in English – Hiroshima Seminar”
to impart fundamental knowledge of what a nuclear weapon
can do and how to express this in English.
On 29 May, 2011 and 24 July, 2011 approximately 100
people participated in the “General Public” seminars. These
were mostly Japanese who will have the opportunity to meetforeigners because they are planning to go overseas or to dohomestays.
In both of these sessions, the first half was given by Craig
Nevitt, an English language instructor from the US. He
explained to the participants how to answer frequently asked
questions by foreigners.

A-bomb Eyewitness testimony via the web conference system

At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum we have presented
A-bomb eyewitness testimony via the web conference system
to people overseas. These videoconferences convey the facts
about nuclear weapons and raise public awareness of the needto eliminate nuclear weapons.
The eyewitness accounts given by atomic bomb survivors
are conducted live from the Museum, allowing us to experience the atmosphere in conference rooms on the other side of
the world. The listeners in these conferences are able to talklive with the hibakusha and watch PowerPoint slides while listening to eyewitness accounts. Q&A sessions are also conducted in real time.
As of December, eleven web conference sessions had been
conducted in 2011 with 9 cities in 6 countries, including theUnited States, United Kingdom and Russia.
A web conference was conducted at the Glasgow
University Chapel, Scotland, with a researcher from the university in November. He had this to report to his sponsors:“The accounts I heard were very important experiences to me.
The eloquent statements by the eyewitnesses were well balanced unbiased views which left a deep impression upon me”.
This use of technology for peace helps mutual dialogue
and greatly reduces the physical burden upon the aging hibakusha. It is also cost efficient. We plan to pursue greater use ofthis method for disseminating atomic bomb eyewitness
accounts.
(Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Outreach Division)

Ms. Keiko Ogura speaking at the 29 May “General Public” seminar7

ing, and everything needed for the puppet show. They evenperformed the show themselves in the local language. They
prepared for the day of the show with many rehearsals.
Hiroshima, August 6. The people of Hiroshima, peacefully
going about their daily lives, are suddenly hit by the atomic
bomb. In that instant, homes and schools disappear. At thesight of so many people grieving at the loss of their family andfriends, the children leaned forward, staring intently at thepuppets. The puppet show was also popular among the adults
accompanying the children, and is now a regular feature of theAtomic Bomb Exhibition program in Sri Lanka.
Every year, the exhibition is held at five or six locations
around Sri Lanka, at venues including universities, city halls,
and temples. The volunteers will continue to hold the exhibition, to communicate the sin of war, the tragedy of nuclear
weapons, and the importance of peace.

Japan Overseas Cooperation
Volunteers’ Atomic Bomb Exhibition:
Hiroshima Expressed Through Puppetryby Miho Uematsu
Coordinator for International Cooperation,
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Sri Lanka is one of the destinations for the Japan Overseas
Cooperation Volunteers. Since its inception in 2008, theAtomic Bomb Exhibition has been held annually in various
parts of Sri Lanka, mainly the regions to which the volunteers
are dispatched. As the volunteers’ term in any place is two
years, the volunteers running the exhibition change each time.
Nonetheless the aspirations for the exhibition are passed on
and maintained. Ten volunteers took the lead to hold the exhibition in 2011.
One of the special features of the Atomic Bomb Exhibition
held in Sri Lanka is the puppet show performed at the venue.
In addition to the general public, many children from the local
elementary schools and kindergartens come to the Atomic
Bomb Exhibition to learn about peace. Unfortunately, however, the explanations provided by the posters on display areoften too difficult for small children to understand.
The videos shown at the exhibition are also targeted
toward the adult audience, and the shocking content has sometimes reduced scared children to tears. Since the children had
made the effort to come to the exhibition, the volunteers tried
to think of a way for the smaller visitors to learn about theatomic bomb and Hiroshima that was easier for them to understand and not as frightening.
The solution they came up with was a puppet show on thetheme of Hiroshima, sure to be popular with the Sri Lankanchildren who love films and cartoons. The volunteers developed not only the scenario but also the puppets, the set, light-

Hiroshima ScholarshipAward Ceremony

Commemorative photograph at the Scholarship Award Ceremony

As part of the Hiroshima Scholarship Program, thisFoundation awards thirty privately-funded international students in the Hiroshima City area with a scholarship of 30,000
yen per month for a one-year period.
Thirty international students (from three countries) studying at ten universities in Hiroshima City were designated as
Hiroshima Scholarship Students for this year, and on July 7(Thursday), the Scholarship Award Ceremony was held in a
training room at Hiroshima City International House. Six representatives of five organizations that make significant donations to the Hiroshima Fund for Foreign Students attended the
ceremony as guests, in addition to guests from the universities(nine people from nine universities) that regularly look after
the scholarship students.
After the ceremony, participants moved to the hall at thevenue, for a gathering with the guests and the other participants from universities. Each of the scholarship students gavea speech where they introduced themselves, spoke of theirimpressions of Hiroshima, aspirations for the future, andexpressed their gratitude for the scholarship they had been
awarded. With a saxophone performance by Mr. Archimedes,
an international student from the Philippines studying at
Elizabeth University of Music Graduate School, participants
enjoyed themselves in the friendly atmosphere.
We look forward to continued strong support and cooperation from Hiroshima’s citizens for the Hiroshima Fund for
Foreign Students, to ensure that privately-funded international
students can concentrate on their studies without concerns
about financial issues, and become a bridge of international
exchange with the people of Hiroshima City.

The volunteers performing the puppet show

Children staring at the puppet show

(Hiroshima City International House)
8

Peace Forum for Foreign Students: Toward A Lasting Peace
Peace Forums for Foreign Students were held to convey thereality of Hiroshima in various forms to foreign students who
have chosen to study here so that they would come to regard
the atomic bombing as an issue not of the past but of the present and future and to foster young people who will work
toward lasting world peace. A total of 236 people, including
67 foreign students, participated in forums on Saturday, July
30 and Friday, August 6.

for the first time, had such an impact that the number of participants exceeded the capacity of the original venue so an additional site had to be used. This suggested the depth ofHiroshima residents’ interest in peace and their strong desire
to convey the spirit of Hiroshima. Some people were seen tocry during the screening of the film.
In their reports, the foreign students said that seeing thefilm allowed them to gain a better understanding of the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima and learn the importance of peace. This
forum demonstrated that images can sometimes convey theneed for peace better than words.

Considering Peace Through Images
At the first forum, “The Back of Destiny,” an independent film
directed by Tomoki Deyama, was screened (with English subtitles). In a new endeavor, local residents were invited to participate in the forum along with the foreign students with theidea that providing an opportunity for people from different
countries to put their heads together on the issue of peace
would deepen understanding of Hiroshima and lead to lastingworld peace.
“The Back of Destiny” depicts the lives of a Hiroshima
couple before the dropping of the atomic bomb and how theyfind the strength to survive afterwards. Following the screening of the film, producer Hisako Deyama described the difficulties encountered while making the film and gave a slidepresentation on the subject. A video message from Tomoki
Deyama was also shown.
During the discussion and question-and-answer sessionthat followed, local residents offered their opinions, but unfortunately the foreign students said little. But this forum, which
was not limited to foreign students and included local citizens

Attendance at Peace Memorial Ceremony
On August 6, a date annually dedicated to peace in Hiroshima,
the foreign students attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony.
Those who were attending for the first time as well as those
who attend every year looked a little nervous amid the solemn
atmosphere of the ceremony site and the elderly participants
offering prayers.
By attending the ceremony the foreign students gained astrong awareness of peace and seemed to recognize the importance of passing on the spirit of Hiroshima in the context of
the aging of the atomic bomb survivors.
Regardless of race or gender, all those who desire peace,must pass on the reality of the atomic bombing, so we willcontinue to carry out projects that will encourage foreign students to think about and take action on global peace.
(Hiroshima City International House)

Forum participants listen to a description of the film “The Back of
Destiny.”

Forum participants attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony

Please Take Advantage of This Foundation’s Scholarships Provided for Privately
Funded Foreign Students
This Foundation has established a Hiroshima Scholarship system for privately funded students, graduate students or research
students from foreign countries who are enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses in universities or colleges within
Hiroshima City and are living in the city. Every school year (April to March) 30 students are selected to receive a monthly stipend of 30,000 yen.
The endowment for this scholarship is donated by caring Hiroshima residents, and the stipends are paid from a Hiroshima
Foreign Students Fund.
To apply for a scholarship or to make a donation to the fund, please contact the Hiroshima City International House at:Phone: 81-82-568-5931
Fax: 81-82-568-5600
E-mail: info@i-house-hiroshima.jp
9Memoir of the A-bombing:

Hiroshima As I Saw
I did not know that it was said at the time that we were notsupposed to give water to people with serious burns. I vowed
never to tell anyone about what happened that day. My memory of that day remained with me as a nightmare even decades
later.
My half-collapsed home was crowded with injured relatives, friends and neighbors. My older sister was crying as she
removed with tweezers shards of glass that were stuck in myuncle’s back. The inside of the house was filled with a nauseating stench of blood, pus, mud, charred hair, and sewage.
Flames had spread to the mountain behind our house, andHiroshima continued to burn throughout the night.

by Keiko Ogura

Representative of the Hiroshima
Interpreters for Peace (HIP)

August 6
I was eight years old, a second-year student at the National
School. When the atomic bomb was dropped I was in Ushita
Town, 2.4km north of the hypocenter. One of my older brothers, a fifth-year elementary student, had been evacuated, andmy other older brother, a junior high school student, wasinvolved in agricultural work north of Hiroshima Station as amobilized student. My father had said “Something doesn’t feelright. Don’t go to school today”, so I was all alone on the roadon the north side of our house.
Suddenly, I was engulfed in a dazzling flash of light, andthe tremendous blast that followed slammed me to the ground.
The straw roofs of the neighboring houses instantaneously
burst into flames. When I went back to the house I found thateverything inside was destroyed, the ceiling and roof tiles had
been blown away, and the doors and window panes were shattered into hundreds of pieces and sticking out of the walls andpillars. But thankfully my parents and brothers and sisters who
were inside the house only suffered minor injuries.
Rain started to fall immediately after that - I do not know
precisely when it started. I think it was shortly after the bomb
was dropped. I went outside, and my clothes were dampenedby the sticky, gray “black rain”. That rain left many thick,gray-colored lines on the walls in the house.

Looking down over the destroyed city
On August 7, I looked down over the city of Hiroshima fromthe hill in front of the shrine. Burnt ruins spread as far as theeye could see, and I could pick out the remains of a number ofbuildings including the department store Fukuya and the former Chugoku Shimbun building. The sea that I could see
beyond that felt so close that I could touch it. Smoke from cremations rose up from the park just nearby and every now andthen the stench of burning corpses wafted over. From that day,I climbed those stone steps every day and continued to gazeover the city of Hiroshima.

People fleeing
My older brother finally came home, with burns on his faceand hands. Hearing him say “Hiroshima is a sea of fire”, I
went outside to look at the city from the hill at the shrine nearby. It was then that I came across a line of people, their clothes
in tatters, with burns, seriously injured, fleeing the city. These
people had charred hair, faces and lips swollen and blackened
with soot, and they were covered in blood. Some of the people
had their skin peeling away and hanging down from their fingertips. Most of the people in this silent procession of ghostlike figures were soldiers or students; some of them ended upbent over and others lay down on the stone steps along theroad leading up to the shrine. The whole area was filled withseriously injured people on the brink of death. I found out laterthat the reason that people were fleeing up there was that thearea around the nearby shrine was being used as an emergency
aid station. However there was no sign of anyone who looked
like a doctor, just one soldier with a bucket, applying something like zinc oxide oil(*) to the injured with a brush. After
that, seriously injured people died every day, and were carried
to the park, which was being used as a temporary site for cremating the dead. It was in that park that my father and members from the civil defense unit cremated more than seven
hundred corpses.
“Give me water”
As I was walking someone on the ground suddenly grabbed
my ankle. From around my feet, a weak voice said “Give mewater”. A woman covered in soot and blood was clinging tome desperately. “Water, water”, the voice of the dying woman
continued to plead for water. I ran home, got some water fromour well, and carried it to the dying people. Immediately after
drinking the water, a number of those people suddenly
slumped, and died right before my eyes. Shocked and trembling with fear, I regretted giving them water. I was so young,

Looking south from a building roof near Yamaguchi Town (currently
the area of Kanayama Town, Ebisu Town and Nobori Town).
With nothing blocking the view, it was possible to see as far as
Ninoshima Island (4,000m out to sea from Hiroshima City) floatingon Hiroshima Bay.
Photographs by: US militaryCommunicating the wishes of the hibakusha to the world
Over the past thirty years, I have interpreted the testimonies ofvarious atomic bomb survivors (hibakusha) on the one hand,
while on the other communicating my own experience inEnglish to the people of the world. I do this because I do notwant humankind to ever again experience the horror caused by
nuclear weapons. I know that retribution and hatred mean
nothing under that mushroom cloud, and that the people of theworld share the same fate.
(*) zinc oxide oil: a white ointment used for minor burns.

Profile10

Keiko Ogura
Born August 4, 1937. Experienced the atomic bombing at theage of 8 in Ushita, 2.4 kilometers from the hypocenter.
In 1981, established Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace. As
an interpreter, becomes involved in many works by overseas
artists, media, peace activists and more. Presents own atomic
bombing testimony in English at such events as the Mock
International Tribunal Denouncing Nuclear War held in
Nuremberg and the Global Conference of Radiation Victims
held in New York.

Thinking about Peace:

Toward A Peaceful World Without Nuclear Weaponsof the United Nations Security Council that are selling weapons to those countries. This continued injustice provides a hotbed for conflict and terrorism. I believe that protecting thenation means protecting its citizens in a democratic country,
and by extension, it means protecting the people worldwide.

by Katsuko Kataoka

Professor Emeritus at Hiroshima
University
Secretary General, JapanesePhysicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War (JPPNW)

There are believed to be two basic ways in which people’s
minds work: systemizing (S) and empathizing (E). S types are
logical and attach importance to the intellect. They systematize, order things and emphasize hierarchy. E types balance
intellect and sensitivity. They are tolerant, good at collaborating with others, and showing consideration for the weak. They
also have good communication skills. S types forge straightahead toward their goals whereas E types don’t mind taking aroundabout way in order to move one step forward. S types try
to subjugate nature while E types try to coexist with it. It is
generally said that men tend to be S types whereas womentend to be E types, but men and women have elements of bothtypes, and people who are extremely one way or the other may
face difficulties socially. Modern society was developed bymainly S-type thinking. Now is the time for E-type thinking to
be used to overcome the environmental and human survival
issues that have arisen as a result of the development of modern society. This also means a gender-equal society being
inevitable.

I pray the souls of the victims of the Great East Japan
Earthquake rest in peace and wish for the survivors being able
to resume their normal lives soon. At the same time I regret
the poor handling after the accident at the TEPCO Fukushimadaiichi nuclear power plant. Peace has various dimensions:from the absence of war to the protection of human rights
including no structural violence, and to sustain sound environment. I would like to mention some of my thoughts on theseissues.
Hopes for the abolition of nuclear weapons have heightened since President Obama’s speech in Prague in April 2009,
but the reliance of major states on nuclear deterrence for theirsecurity seem unlikely to change. A nuclear attack based onerror or misinformation has somehow been avoided, but there
is no guarantee that this luck will continue. The use of nuclear
weapons by a non-state body is also a possibility. As long asJapan relies on the “nuclear umbrella” of the United States, thepossibility of a nuclear attack can not be escaped. As we statedin the 2007 Report from the Committee of Experts on Damage
Scenarios Resulting from a Nuclear Weapons Attack(*1), cities
can not withstand attacks by even the smallest nuclear weapon.
Nuclear weapons are dangerous even when not used. An
estimated 3,000×1018Bq of radioactive materials (excluding
induced radioactivity(*2)) has been released in atmosphericnuclear tests and fallen to earth all over the world. This is atremendous amount incomparably greater than the amounts
released in the Chernobyl disaster (8×1018Bq) or last year’s
accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima(0.18×1018Bq according to a government report submitted to
the International Atomic Energy Agency in June 2011). The
environmental pollution that results during the course of thedevelopment and manufacture of nuclear weapons can noteven be surveyed as it has been hampered by the barrier ofnational security.
Nuclear weapons are an absolute evil, and their abolitionis the earnest desire of the people of Hiroshima. In 1996 theInternational Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that “…the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable inarmed conflict and particularly the principles and rules ofhumanitarian law.” International humanitarian law includes
not only the protection of civilians themselves but also ofthings essential for their survival and of their environment.
This can be interpreted to mean that carpet bombing and all
attacks on cities violate humanitarian law, except in extremelyrare circumstances.
IPPNW fully supports the effort of Mayors for Peace,
which has more than 5,000 member municipalities around theworld, to promote the elimination of nuclear weapons by theyear 2020 as well as its Cities Are Not Targets (CANT)
Project. We also advocate the addition of specific wording on“nuclear weapons and other indiscriminate weapons of mass
destruction” to the crimes against humanity cited in the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court(*3).
The next condition for the creation of a peaceful world is
to ensure basic human rights such as equality, securing liberty
and physical safety, and providing basic education as well asbases of healthy and cultural life, for the people over theworld. Military expenditures represent a huge proportion of
the national budgets of many poor countries despite their lackof safe supplies of food and water and basic levels of education. And yet it is wealthy nations like the permanent members

IPPNW medical students on a bicycle
tour in support of
the abolition of
nuclear weapons in
Basel, Switzerland
in 2010. A tour from
Nagasaki to
Hiroshima isplanned for the runup to the 20th IPPNWWorld Congress tobe held in
Hiroshima on
August 24-26, 2012.

(Contributed in July 2011)(*1) Report from the Committee of Experts on Damage Scenarios
Resulting from a Nuclear Weapons Attack: When formulating its civil
protection plan, the City of Hiroshima set up a Committee of Experts
on Damage Scenarios Resulting from a Nuclear Weapons Attack
under its Civil Protection Council and made its own predictions ofdamage. The report was issued on November 9, 2007.
(*2) Induced Radioactivity: Radioactivity produced in certain materials as a result of nuclear reactions, particularly the capture of neutrons.
This results in non-radioactive materials to be radioactive.
(*3) Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A permanent
body of the International Criminal Court established for the prosecution and punishment of the most serious crimes which are of interest
to the international community as a whole. Sets forth the obligationsof cooperation of the signatory nations.

ProfileKatsuko Kataoka
Physician with a Ph. D. degree in medical science from
Hiroshima University. Became a professor at Hiroshima
University School of Medicine in 1981. Retired in 2007 andbecame a professor emeritus. Since 2007 has served as the
Secretary General of Japanese Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War, an affiliate of International Physicians for thePrevention of Nuclear War (Nobel Peace Prize laureate in1985). Chair of the Hiroshima Women Physicians Society.
Member of the board of the Hiroshima Peace Culture
Foundation and the Hiroshima City of the Future Foundation.
11

People who convey the “Spirit of Hiroshima”

Hiroshima Okonomiyaki: taking the fuel for post-war recovery to Tohoku

An interview with Hiroaki Kawakami (President, K2S K.K.) and head of the Okonomiyaki Division of theHiroshima Inshoku Seiei, Hiroshima City Chapter.
To us, the aftermath of the disaster-hit areas were reminiscent of Hiroshima after the war. While we made okonomiyaki
we imagined the feelings of those Hiroshimans before us who
provided support to Hiroshima’s recovery with okonomiyaki.
The evacuees that day couldn’t resist our Hiroshima okonomiyaki and we were told how great it was.
On the second day, we visited Okada Elementary School,
also in Sendai. The neighborhood association leader was also
staying at the evacuation center, and under the leader’s direction evacuees gathered to help us. They contacted the neighborhood evacuation centers for us and 600 meals we had prepared were loaded onto pallets and delivered to all of the centers.
Since it had been a month since the disaster struck, evacuation centers had developed rules so that people could live
together. Instead of having everyone line up for food, meals
were distributed by volunteers or by people in turns. It reallyfelt that people were working together to survive.
Okada Elementary School was just on the edge of the area
devastated by the tsunami
and looking at the horrible
destruction left us speechless. With the large number of evacuees, it wasn’t
like we could just wish
everyone the best of luck,so we put all of our effort
into preparing okonomiyaVolunteer activities at Okada
ki for them to enjoy.

Hoping to put a smile on the faces of evacuees of the Great
East Japan Earthquake and provide them with hot-off-the-grill
okonomiyaki, a local specialty that contributed to the post-war
recovery of the city, the Hiroshima City Chapter of theHiroshima Inshoku Seiei and the City of Hiroshima suppliedhot, freshly made okonomiyaki to evacuation centers in Sendai
on April 12-13 with the cooperation of member businesses.
What was the inspiration for this project?
Just by chance, three of our employees were on a business trip
to Tokyo on March 11, the day the big earthquake struck.
Tokyo shook pretty violently as well. Somehow they managed
to catch the last flight and returned to neighboring Okayama. I
went to retrieve them from Okayama and finally all of ouremployees had made it safely back to Hiroshima. The next
week we held a company-wide meeting and since our employees had also experienced the earthquake and understood thescope of the disaster, we started to talk about what we could
do for the victims. That’s how all of this got started.
How did you carry it out?
I am the head of the Okonomiyaki Division for the Hiroshima
City Chapter of the Hiroshima Inshoku Seiei, so I proposed
this project to the City of Hiroshima and they were pleased toaccept it. I asked member businesses for donations and in justfive days we managed to gather enough ingredients to make2000 servings of okonomiyaki and were even lent a refrigerated truck.
The City of Hiroshima made arrangements for us and on
the morning of April 11, one month after the disaster, we loaded the ingredients into the truck and together with four okonomiyaki chefs and three city employees, left from city hall.
Using the expressways and taking naps along the way, we
arrived in the City of Sendai over 20 hours later.

Elementary School

What kind of future activities are you considering?
We have been holding fundraisers since immediately following the disaster and for now we would just like to continue
with that. Despite our miniscule abilities, we’d also like tothink about what we can contribute to the ongoing recovery
efforts in the disaster-stricken area.
By visiting the disaster area, we were able to feel thepower of the evacuees while at the same time feel a sort ofconnection to the power of our grandparents’ generation which
made post-war Hiroshima what it is today. So, I was able tosense that the disaster area will also recover. Also, I think that
this project went so smoothly precisely because of the connection felt between the volunteers and those accepting our aid. I
felt that we had to be careful not to let this volunteer project
become one-sided.
Finally, being able to successfully complete this project
was the result of being blessed with great volunteers and I
would like to express my gratitude to them. If we do this kindof activity again, I would love to do it with themOnce there, what did you do?
On the first day, we went to Rokugo Junior High School in
Sendai, one of the evacuation centers, and made okonomiyaki.
Hiroshima and Sendai cities have a good relationship andthanks to the arrangements made in advance—like where wewere going to make the okonomiyaki—things went verysmoothly. At this facility, the JSDF, Japan Self-Defense
Forces, were preparing and providing meals, so we asked themto take a break (lunch) and allow us to add okonomiyaki to themenu. We had to prepare about 800 meals in 90 minutes, but
four employees from the Sendai and Tokyo branches of the
Otafuku Sauce Company lent a hand. So, with 15 people
working we were able to finish in time.
After that, in the gymnasium, the head of theneighborhood association,
who was also staying there
as a refugee, introduced us
to everyone and they all
expressed their gratitude to
us for coming such a long
way to help out. Then it
was our turn to feel
Volunteer activities at Rokugo
Junior High School
touched.

Thanks for your time today.

(Interviewed July 23, 2011)

Information

Our Newsletters Are Accessible on the Internet
You can read our newsletters (Japanese version and English
version) on the Internet.
[URL] http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/hpcf/paper/〔Request〕Please inform us if you change your mailing address.
HIROSHIMA PEACE CULTURE FOUNDATION
1-2 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
730-0811, JAPAN
Phone. 81-82-241-5246
E-mail: p-soumu@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp〔URL〕http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/hpcf/

HIROSHIMA PEACE CULTURE FOUNDATIONPEACE CULTURE
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