Muse No. 39
Japanese Citizens Network of Museums for Peace
Newsletter: June 2019
The Editorial Office: Daisuke Miyahara at Peace Aichi
2-820 Yomogidai, Meitoku, Nagoya City, Aichi 465-0091
Tel/Fax: 052-602-4222
http://www.peace-aichi.com/
Editor: Kazuyo Yamane & Ikuro Anzai
Translator: Atsuko Akamatsu, Emi Karimata & Kazuyo Yamane
Illustrator: Erico Tosaki & Pegge Patten

18th National Conference of Japanese Citizens’ Network ofMuseums for Peace
Date: October 26, 2019 (Sat)13:00Oct. 27 (Sun) until 12:00
Venue: National Women's Education
Center: https://www.nwec.jp/
TEL: 0493-62-6711 (about 60 minutes
from Ikebukuro on Tobu Tojo line, 15
minutes on foot from "Musashi
Arashiyama Station")● Accommodation: Reserved for 80
people: Twin room with toilet and bath
● Afternoon "field work" on the 27th:"Maruki Gallery For The Hiroshima
Panels" and "Chukiren Peace Memorial
Hall"- finish at 16:30 at "Tsurugashima
Station" of Tojo Line (40 minutes to
Ikebukuro)● Details such as participation fee andfield work will be notified from thesecretariat later.
◆ Application deadline: September 15◆ If you wish to participate, please
specify “Name / Affiliation” and apply for“Accommodation, social gathering, &field work”. (Npo-kinenkan@nifty.com)
We are indebted to Mr. Nobuo Serizawa,
the Chukiren Peace Memorial OfficeSecretariat.
(Translated by Kazuyo Yamane)

Erico

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Shinkansen, lawsuit against Yamanashi
Prefectural Authority for educating
children only about the merits of linear
Shinkansen using manga, and other real
documents, references, etc. were also
displayed
At the Yamanashi Peace Museum, from
June to November, 1919 we will hold an
exhibition called "Thinking about JapanROK relationship for 100 years since 3.1
independent movement." The outline of
the exhibition is as follows:

The Exhibition: From Linear
Shinkansen Project in Japan to
3.1 Independent Movement
in Korea
Asakawa Tamotsu
President of Yamanashi Peace Museum
The Yamanashi Peace Museum held an
exhibition, "Thinking about the Linear
Shinkansen" from December 2018 to May
2019.
The following is the aim and overview
of the exhibition.

Exhibition summary of 3/1 Movement
in Korea
What is 3.1 independent movement? The
prehistory of the 3.1 movement, theOutline and development of the
3.1movement, 3.1 Movement and womensuch as Ruu Kwan‐sun (1904‐20) who
was the leader of 3.1 independent
movement and was tortured to death,
Teiganri Church Incident on April 15 in
1919 in which 29 leaders were killed in
Suwon in Korea which was colonized by
Japan.
Also included are how Japanese media
reported 3.1 independent movement,
Japanese who supported the movement
such as Tanzan Ishibashi, Muneyoshi
Yanagi, Noritaka & Takumi Asakawa, thepresent relation between Japan and Korea
such as trade and exchanges and the issueof drafted Korean workers during WorldWar II.
(Translated by Kazuyo Yamane)

The aim of the exhibition
The linear Shinkansen, which is set toopen in 2027, has the pros and cons froman optimistic and rosy outlook, but experts
and civil society also pointed out
oppositions and problems. The exhibitionon this issue related to the future of
Yamanashi was held from scientific andcitizen perspective as much as possible.
Exhibition Outline of the Linear
Shinkansen
What is linear Shinkansen? Outline oflinear Shinkansen Project, some problems,considering energy consumption, safety or
profitability,
unprecedented
fiscalinvestment, impact of electromagnetic
waves on human health, division ofgroundwater, difficult management of theremoved soil, its influence on landscape,damage on residents by noise and the lackof sunlight, discovery of illegal bidrigging, the lawsuit to stop linear
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Chukiren Peace Museum
Nobuo Serizawa: Secretariat
In the memorial hall, we hold a study
session called “Meetings learned from
Chukiren” in the afternoon of the board
meeting which is held four times a year.
On February 24th, I asked for a lecture by
Mr. Hiroyoshi Ohrui, the president of the“Friendship Association with Fang1zheng
in China.” As you may have known, there
is a “Japanese public tomb in Fang1zhengarea” built by the Chinese government for
the victims of the Japanese pioneers, 180
km east of Harbin City. Mr. Ohrui andhis friends have exchanges of ideas withpeople in the area.
In addition, the Chukiren Chiba Branchbuilt the Chukiren monument (apology
monument) in July 1997 at Myoufuku-ji
Temple in Sousa City. When this"inscription" was understood, installation
was refused by all the places and theinstallation place could not be decided. It
was accepted and erected when Yoshio
Shinozuka (former Unit 731 boy member)
who had been the representative of
supporters of Myoufukuji temple at thattime consulted the temple.
We gather in front of this monument every
year on May 5 when the wisteria of thetemple blooms, and call it "Kanfujikai" tohonor the members of the Chukiren, andreiterate their experiences and thoughts for
future generations. 16 people gathered
there this year.

We also went to the tomb of Mr.
Shinozuka in the precincts, and in the backof the chamber, a film called "Admitting
sin in the aggressive war: from humanbeings to demons, and to human beings
again” (43 min.) was shown. After thescreening of the film, we held a social
gathering and had our exchanges of ideas.
This year's National Exchange Meeting
will be held on October 26 and 27 at the
National Women's Education Center in
Saitama, and details will be available in
the future. We look forward to seeing you
again.
【NPO Chukiren Peace Museum】
TEL & FAX: 049-236-4711 (Wed, Sat,Sun)
E-mail: npo-kinenkan@nifty.com
HP: http://npo-chuukiren.jimdo.com/(There is a temporary closure, so pleasecontact us in advance)(Translated by Kazuyo Yamane)3

headquarters. Although it is clear that
other people, such as prisoners, veterans,
and mobilized students were alsocommanded to undertake this task, it willtake more time to make full disclosure ofthis part of history. The exhibition also
introduced war sites in the ward and othersites related to the air raid to viewers.
There are still copies of the newsletter
mentioning the exhibit, but the catalog
was not published. The museum also has apermanent exhibition of paintings that
illustrate human experiences of the air raid.
(Translated by Emi Karimata)

Sumida Cultural Museum“Tokyo Air Raid: Victims, rescuers,
and war sites”
Seishi Ishibashi： Curator
From February 23 through April 14, 2019,
the Sumida Ward Cultural Museum (2-3-5,
Mukoujima, Sumida Ward, Tokyo) held
the rotating exhibition, “Tokyo Air Raid:
Victims, Rescuers, and War Sites.”
For bereaved families of the victims,
questions still remain such as how thevictims lost their lives and what became of
their bodies. To answer these questions,the museum planned this exhibition to
include new evidence. For example,
testimonies of soldiers who worked on
disposal of dead bodies and survivors
from the site of the air raid. For the firsttime, evidence is shown from archival
resources from National Institute for
Defense Studies, that Japanese military
officers anticipated the damage that would
occur from the air raid. By their estimation,
13,759 people would die in a two-day
attack, but the enemy attacked differently
from what they anticipated. Also, in acommand book to the East Army troops,
there were no orders issued for the
disposal of dead bodies, and there wereorders only for collection of metals on the
scorched ground. From the testimonies ofsoldiers dispatched for disposal work, per
the East Army’s command, the order ofdisposal was issued to troops undercommand of the Eastern military police

Women’s Active Museum(WAM)
Eriko Ikeda: Honorary Director
The 100th anniversary of the Korea’s
declaration of independent was reached on
March 1. On this date, WAM began their
16th special exhibition, “Listening to thevoices of Korean ‘comfort women’—tofulfill Japan’s responsibility for colonial
occupation.” Since we live in East Asia,
the history of Japan’s colonial occupationand the country’s wartime aggression is
not unrelated to us. Japan was also deeply
involved in the division of the Korean
Peninsula, the Korean War and civil-rights
violations under a militaristic dictatorshipafter the liberation of the peninsula.
However, it seems, the worse therelationship between Japan and Korea
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from Japanese invasion of the Korean
Peninsula and colonial occupation until
the present day. In addition, the exhibit
includes details about the supervision of
Korean women’s sexuality under theGovernment-GeneralofKorea,
democratization of the South Korea,
female victims’ struggles starting from1990’s, and so on.

becomes, the more the animosity,
discrimination, or apathy toward Korea
among Japanese people increases.
A public event, which takes place at thewest gate of Shinjuku station on the third
Wednesday of each month, a supporting
network for “comfort women,” in which
WAM takes part, makes an appeal topeople to think about the problem and try
to solve it. Some people accept our flyers
and sometimes we receive cold reactions,such as “the ‘comfort women’ issue? Isn’t
that already solved?” Both the government
and the media have immersed the public in
ideas, such as “there is no evidence thatwomen were taken by force,” or, “there are
no legal responsibilities,” or, “the issue
was closed by the agreement between

In contrast to the rest of Japanesesociety which celebrated the 150th
anniversary of the Meiji Restoration
steeped in a festive mood for the namingof the new era for the Imperial succession(a manipulation by the Abe administration,
which uses these events for political
purposes), this special exhibition features
messages from the opposite end of
circumstance. Maybe that is the reason
why we feel such a good response fromvisitors as more and more researchers
from overseas, international students, andmedia visit the exhibition. Throughout theyear, the museum also offers seminars,
lectures, and screening events. We hope
many more will stop by the museum.
The current 16th special exhibition“Listening to the voices of Korean‘comfort women’—to fulfill Japan’s
responsibility for colonial occupation”
features panels with the images of 183

Japan and South Korea,” for over 20 years.
In the 74 years since the end of the war,
the government has never faced thenation’s wartime responsibility or colonial
occupation. Fixing this situation is adifficult task, but those who have learnedof the true background history must takeaction.
This special exhibition describes the life
stories of 183 “comfort women” fromSouth and North Korea during and after
the war in 500 characters on the firstexhibition’s walls. With support from thegovernments of both Koreas, a map
illustrating where 454 women registeredby both governments were from, where
they were captured and eventually taken
was created. In the second exhibition room,a large chronological table tells the history
5

“comfort women” from South and North
Korea who opened their stories to the
public.
(Translated by Emi Karimata)“Gokyou-tai” were another group of boy
soldiers who were 14 to 17 years old at thetime.
Two events related to the Exhibition on
Okinawa, “Battle of Okinawa and theChildren” will be held in the museum. One
was a lecture and another a public reading.
〇 Lecture: “Battle of Okinawa and theChildren” 1:30 p.m. June 22nd Saturday
lectured by Mr. Sakai Yoshitaka, professorof Nagoya City University
This lecture included memories about
various aspects of the Battle of Okinawa
shared by those who were infants, pupils,
and students at the time. These testimonies
have been verified by official documents.

Peace Aichi Museum
An Exhibition on Okinawa: “The Battle of
Okinawa and the Children” was held fromMay 21st to July 6th, 2019 in Peace Aichi.
The Exhibition on Okinawa for this year
focussed on children. It will include thetragedy of “Tsushima-maru,” a Japanesepassenger/cargo ship that was sunk during
World War II, while carrying hundreds ofschool children from Okinawa to
Nagasaki. It will also include how young
students were called into the military suchas the “Tekketsu-kinnou-tai,” a group of
14-to-16-year-old boys who were called
into the Japanese army and the Himeyuri
Girl Student Corps, which consisted of 15to-19-year-old girls.
The exhibition will also include
photographs and articles detailing how thechildren lived in caves used as shelters,
how some children tragically committed
suicide or they were killed in groupsuicides. We haven’t exhibited artifacts
about “Gokyou-tai” in the former
exhibitions, but we are planning to in the
exhibition. It will also include information
about how children lived in theconcentration camps, and how war
orphanssurvived
by themselves.

Public Reading: “Alive”“Peace Aichi Museum’s Volunteer
Organization of Public Reading” will givea public reading of “Alive,” a poem on
peace written by Sagara Rinko as a speechfor Peace Memorial Day to commemorate
the end of the Battle of Okinawa.
Venue: Event Floor on the 1st floor on June
23rd, 2018.
Photography Exhibition“The Struggles in Henoko and Takae to
Protect Their Land Against the Expansionof American Military Bases: The Harsh
Reality That Is Not Reported in Mainland
Japan” Period: May 21st to July 6th
Although the Okinawan Prefectural
Referendum clearly showed that the local
citizens were against the construction of
the new American Military Base in6

Henoko, the construction has been pushed
through. The photographs taken by locals
show the present condition in Henoko andTakae

Kazuyo Yamane: expert adviser

creeping up. The pre-war Okinawa
activities were shown in photos taken by
the Asahi Shimbun reporter in 1935 andposted in the article "Ocean Nippon".
From 277 frames of negatives found at the
Osaka headquarters after about 80 years,
100 photographs were carefully selected
including photographs which werecolored based on residents' memories andartificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Commentary was added based on Jointinterview of people by the Asahi Shimbun
and Okinawa Times, thus a photo
exhibition of "Okinawa in 1935" was held.
This exhibition was held at the Nippon
Shimbun Museum in 2017 and has beenshown in Kansai. However, we will also
exhibit Okinawa-related materials held at
the Kyoto Museum for World Peace,
Ritsumeikan University.
Okinawa changed completely in the Battleof Okinawa. The influence of the war was
lurking in the pre-war Okinawan’s life.
Thinking of Okinawa and Japan since
1935, issues on Okinawa that connectedalso to today are dealt with.

A special exhibition of "Reviving
Okinawa in 1935"
Okinawa was exposed to severe war
damage at the end of the Asia-Pacific War.
There was a peaceful life of the people in
Okinawa ten years before the war. It is
possible to see photos of the crowded
Naha market, idyllic track carriages, thepeaceful life of fishermen of Itoman andso forth while the shadows of the war were

Exhibition: April 13 to June 29, 2019
Sponsored by Kyoto Museum for World
Peace, Ritsumeikan University, Asahi
Shimbun, Okinawa Times
Cooperation
with
Prof.
Hidenori
Watanabe of the University of Tokyo,
KYOTOGRAPHIE (Kyoto International
Photography Festival), Frameman Inc.
(From the website)(Translated by Kazuyo Yamane)

A photograph of the exhibition fromthe official website of Peace Aichi Museum(Transalted by Atsuko Akamatsu)

Kyoto Museum for World Peace

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Peace Osaka is a peace exhibition
facility operated by a foundation fundedby Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City inOsaka Castle Park. In addition to thedisplay of the Osaka air raid, Japan’s
aggression of other countries used to be
exhibited. However, after Mr. Toru
Hashimoto became the mayor of Osakaand Mr. Ichiro Matsui became theGovernor of Osaka Prefecture (twomembers of the Osaka Restoration Party),
the display was drastically changed be thereason that the exhibits on Japan’s
aggression were "self-asserting" etc., andin April 2015 they were completely
renewed and reopened.
Mr. Noboru Takemoto (69), a member ofthe group "Collaborative Committee forThinking about the Crisis of Peace Osaka"
who was concerned that the idea of
establishment of the peace center would
be dispelled in the process of this review.
He requested information disclosure of
related official documents. However, it
was refused for reasons such as "Itinterferes with the work for renewal". Mr.
Takemoto made an objection, but thepeace center reopened without holding theexamination committee that should havebeen consulted.

Osaka International Peace
Center: Osaka Prefecture andCity Lost a Lawsuit
Governor Matsui and Mayor
Yoshimura Lost a Suit in the High
Court, and Mayor Matsui andGovernor Yoshimura lost a suit at theSupreme Court
by Fuyuki Aizawa: Osaka Nichi-Nichi
Shimbun Editorial Writer (former NHK
reporter)
The Supreme Court has decided towithdraw the appeals of Osaka Prefecture
and Osaka City on May 24th in a trial overdisclosure of information on "Peace
Osaka" (Osaka International Peace
Center) in Osaka. The Osaka High Court
ruling, which ordered Osaka Prefecture
and Osaka City to redress a plaintiff, hasbeen finalized.

“The information disclosure should
be done because it is related to thehistorical recognition" High court
decision supported it.
Mr. Takemoto filed a lawsuit against
8

Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, etc. forcompensation saying that he has been
infringed on his right to know and has
suffered mental distress. The Osaka
District Court dismissed all the cases, but
the Osaka High Court decided that
"information should be disclosed only
because it is related to historical
recognition in various opinions." Thedecision at the Osaka District Court wasoverruled and it ordered Osaka Prefecture
and Osaka City to pay Mr. Takemoto¥ 50,000 each as compensation.
The Osaka prefecture and the city had
appealed this, but the Supreme Court
issued a decision to dismiss the appeal on
May 24th, saying "there is no reason for theappeal. "As a result, the Osaka High Court
rule that it was illegal that Osaka
Prefecture and Osaka City did not disclose
information was finalized.
Plaintiff Mr. Takemoto spoke as follows.
"In this trial, unfair interference by Mr.
Hashimoto and Mr. Matsui for reviewing
the exhibition was revealed. The realreason for hiding information was toprevent citizens from knowing that thereal purpose of the renewal of theexhibition was to get rid of exhibits on
Japan’s aggression of other countries. The
renewal of the peace center by unjust
interference can’t be justifiable. We willcontinue to improve the display from now
on in order to restore the foundation ideas
to show the reality of war from both
viewpoints of perpetrators and victims.
War was waged without informing thetruth and we should not repeat the same
mistakes again.”
Attorney of the plaintiff was only one
lawyer, Mr. Osamu Omae. He stated thedecision of victory as follows:
It is significant that the fact that "Osaka
Prefecture and Osaka City violated theinformation disclosure regulations wasmade clear. It is also significant that the
Osaka High Court decision that
"information should be disclosed justbecause it is related to historical
recognition in various opinions" wasfinalized. The fact that the information
was hidden to Mr. Takemoto is
equivalent to the information being
hidden to all the citizens. The war of 74
years ago was promoted by "notinforming the people of the truth". Don't
repeat the same mistakes again.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/aizawafu
yuki/20190527-00127522/(Translated by Kazuyo Yamane)

Grassroots House Peace Museum
Vice Director: Keisuke Okamura
Four Main Themes, “Japan’s
aggression of other countries,
Damage, Resistance, Creation” toPass on to the Next Generation
Grassroots House Peace Museum willcelebrate its 30th anniversary in November
this year. In the general meeting of the9museum directors, it was decided that a
new theme, “Creation”, will be added tothe three main themes, “Japan’s
Aggression of other countries, Damage,and Resistance”. These themes are
considered very important for the
management of the museum ever since it
was established. It is hoped that the newtheme will help contribute to the further
progress of the museum.
The main activities are:1. prevention of the government fromgaining military power and the ability towage war, and the realization of national
security independent of military force.
2. Solidarity with the anti-American
Military Base Campaign in Okinawa andthe realization of prosperity and peace in
Okinawa and other parts of Japan
3. Prevention of an undesirable
amendment to the Constitution and misuseof the Constitution
4. Realization of a world without nuclear
weapons
5. Decommissioning of all the nuclear
power plants in order to never repeat thedisaster in Fukushima.
6. Helping people learn the history ofJapan’s aggression of other countries,
damage and resistance in modern andcontemporary Japanese history as well asshare perspectives on history with Eastern
Asian people

7. Preservation, maintenance,
utilization of war-related sites, etc.

and

We
will
cooperate
with
other
organizations to work on these projects.
We will also continue the Kou Makimura
project, which was started last year for the80th anniversary after Kou Makimura’s
death and will work on setting up acommemorative plaque as a monument tohis birthplace. As we have researched thelocation of his birthplace and verified it,
we will start the fundraising for thisproject. (Note: Kou Makimura protested
World War II and he was tortured in prison
and was killed young.)
We will celebrate the 30th anniversaryof the establishment of Grassroots House
Peace Museum in November. We will
invite Ms Sang-hee Lee and Mr.
Yeonghwan Kim from Korea on Sunday,
November 24th. They will give lectures
under the title: “The Past, Present and the
Future of Japan and the Korean Peninsula.”
We will also hold a welcome party forthem.
(Translated by Atsuko Akamatsu)

10

Museum. About 30 people attended thegathering. The guests who attended thisevent included, Mr. Takazane’s wife, Mrs.
Ayako Takazane, Mr. Su san Han, aprofessor and a novelist who wrote thenovel “Gunkan-jima Island” and his wife,
Mrs. Sung Sun Lee, Mr. Sonoda, themuseum board chairman, reported on the
research of Korean atomic bomb survivors
and Koreans who were forced to work inJapan or in other countries for theJapanese military. An organization,“Nagasaki Association for the Protectionof Korean-Japanese Human Rights” hasbeen working on the research.
The
former chairman of the board, Mr.
Takazane, was the representative of theassociation. After the report, the attendees
watched a video on Mr. Takazane’s life
and work and exchanged their views.

Oka Masaharu Memorial
Nagasaki Peace Museum
Secretary General： Noboru Sakiyama
The 16th General Meeting was held on
November 23rd, 2018. Before starting themeeting, two students who were sent toChina by the museum, made presentations
entitled: “What I Learned from the Trip to
China” and talked about their impressions
and other things about their trips. They
were sent to China on the 16th group tour
for friendship between China and Japan
named “The Wings of Hope,” and the 18th
group tour for friendship to visit Chinaorganized by Oka Masaharu Memorial
Nagasaki Peace Museum from December
11th to 17th. The two university students
who applied for the project and I, joined
the 34th study tour to Nanjing organized by
Meisin-kai Association. We visited
Nanjing, Shenyang, Fushun, Dalian, andShaanxi.
Nagasaki Peace Museum held an
exhibition, “War Crimes Never Brought toCourt: Photo Panel Exhibition on Unit 731
and Unit 100,” including the exhibition,“Nagasaki University and Unit 731” fromMarch 12th to 17th. The period was short
as only 6 days, but around 80 people
visited the exhibition.
An event, “The 2nd Commemoration for
Mr. Yasunori Takazane” was held in themuseum on April 7th. Mr. Takazane was an
emeritus professor of Nagasaki University
and the former chairman of the board of
Oka Masaharu Memorial Nagasaki Peace(Translated by Atsuko Akamatsu)

11

trip was also held for the bereaved familiesof Himeyuri students and teachers.
Hereafter, we will hold the event,“Himeyuri documentary screening andtalk” at the Himeyuri Peace Hall in Nahaon June 29. Furthermore, in July 2020, themuseum will be renovated for the firsttime in 16 years and the exhibits will berenewed for new generations being evenfurther removed from the war.

Himeyuri Peace Museum
Katsumi Maedomari: Curator
In June 23, 2019, Himeyuri Peace
Museum will reach its 30th anniversary.
Since the museum’s opening, Himeyuri
survivors as “witnesses” have worked
together to pass on their war experiences.
In anticipation of a time when they could
no longer tell their story themselves,
however, in the early 2000s, they began toofficially hand off their memories to thesubsequent generations. As a result, in
April 2018, a first staff member who has
no war experience became the director,
and other museum staffers who were bornafter the war, continue the work that
Himeyuri survivors began.
This year, under the theme of“Himeyuri—for new generations,” themuseum planned several events and 30th
anniversary projects. For example, inFebruary 2019, the museum’s firstpromotional film was produced and may
be seen on YouTube.
To see the film, go to the following
address or scan the QR code.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQM
TA5PucBs

Aside from these events, in January 2019,the second “skills training for Okinawa
interpreter-guides” and “guiding seminarfor Okinawan guides” were also held.
Newly recruited journalists from two
Okinawan local newspaper companies
gathered and studied at the museum. This
plan was for younger generations who
work for media to learn about the Battle of
Okinawa and Himeyuri Students Corps
and achieve deeper understanding. Not
only new recruits, but also junior andsenior journalists participated in theworkshop to increase awareness of theBattle of Okinawa.
Tel: 098-997-2100 / Fax:098-997-2102
HP: http://www.himeyuri.or.jp
FB:
https://www.facebook.com/HIMEYUIRI.
PEACE.MUS(Translated by Emi Karimata)For the 30th anniversary program, a banner
was erected at the museum entrance, alogo for the anniversary year was created,
and, for the first time on April 6, a field
12

compensation for the incident has alreadybeen solved through the documents
exchanged between the Japanese and US
governments in 1955.”
However,NHK
Hiroshimabroadcasting station found official
documents about the boats exposed toradiation in the incident in the UnitedStates National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) in 2013. The
Japanese government could not hide their
documents anymore and so disclosed the
documents related to the incident in 2014.
60 years had passed since the incident.

65 Years after the Nuclear Tests
around Bikini Atoll: The “5thLucky Dragon” Wasn’t the Only
Boat Exposed to Radiation.
Keisuke Okamura:Vice director of Grassroots House
Nuclear Testing around Bikini Atoll is justone of the incidents in Post-war history
that were kept secret. The dreadful crimecommitted by the US government during
the Cold War between the USA and the
USSR exposed more than 1000 tunafishing boats and over 10,000 Japanesefishing crew to the deadly ashes
contaminated with radiation. However, thedamage caused by the radiation was
dwarfed as “an incident of the 5th Lucky
Dragon” and the existence of the crew on
the other tuna fishing boats, mainly from
Kochi Prefecture, was never reported inany mass media, nor researched byscientists.
In 1986, a high school students’associationin
Kochi
Prefectureinterviewed the crew who have been
suffering from diseases which were
probably caused by exposure to theradiation, and they illustrated the true
reality of the damage caused by theincident.
However,theJapanesegovernment
replied,“No official
documents about the incident are left inorder to work on the research and so it isdifficult to investigate it now.” Thegovernment replied again, “The issue of

The book of the testimonies andphotographs, “NO NUKES” tells us thatthe incident of Bikini Atoll affected not
only the boat, The 5th Lucky Dragon, butalso many other ships, and that theincident is not over. The survivors who are
suffering from the diseases related to theradiationneed
immediate
relief.
Through this book, you can read about thecrew who were forced to keep silent for
years before talking calmly about thehorror they experienced with agony
13

expressed on their faces. This book was
published in Japanese and English forreaders around the world. The interview
with the survivors of nuclear testingaround Bikini Atoll was also published forthe first time.
It reports about one of the crew who
mistakenly ate the deadly ashes after
making a ball of them because he thought
the ashes were snow. It also describesthat more and more of the crew developed
cancer and were hospitalized.
The
photographs are printed with double color
image data. The faces of 50 members of
the crew look ghastly, asking for “peace
without nuclear weapons.”
Ms. Sayuri Yoshinaga, a famous actress
who has held countless public readings ofpoems written by atomic bomb survivors
in Japan and overseas for over 30 years,
sent her message for the wraparound bandof the book: “This is a work everyone
around the world should read for manyreasons, especially to realize the abolitionof nuclear weapons.”
Mr. AkiraKawasaki, co-representative of Peace
Boat and a member of the international
management committee of ICAN, Mr.
Ozaki, the governor of Kochi Prefectureand Mr. Masatoshi Yamashita, secretary
general of Pacific Nuclear Disaster
Assistance Center, also sent theirmessages for the book.
(Translated by Atsuko Akamatsu)

A Collection of Photographs“NO NUKES”
Keisuke Okamura
2000 yen: tax separate
Black and white photographs Original
size close to A4 size: 148 pages
You can order the book below:
Grass Roots House Peace Museum
9-11, Masugata, Kochi-shi,
780-0861 Japan
TEL：088-875-1275
FAX：088-821-0586
E-mail: GRH@ma1.seikyou.ne.jp“Comforted”2019
By Pegge Patten

New Publication
Ikuro Anzai, Choukei Futenma“Series on War. Let’s Hand Down
the Memories of Okinawa”
Published by Shin-Nihon-Shuppan-Sha
It was planned to publish 5 volumes on
Okinawa as part of the “Series on War.”The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd volumes have alreadybeen published. The 4th and 5th volumes
14were published recently.

Takara” or “Life Is Treasure” House,“Fukutsu” or “Fortitude” Museum,
Okinawa Airaku-en Communication
Center, Sakima Art Museum, Haebaru
Culture Center, Yaeyama Peace Memorial
Museum, Roadside Rest Area “Kadena,”
the location of the accident of the US
military helicopter which crashed into the
Okinawa International University andother sites to visit. The authors hope thatthese books will be recommended toschool libraries.
(Translated by Atsuko Akamatsu)

The 4th volume entitled, “The Island
Unsettled with the Problems of Military
Bases” is written by Ikuro Anzai. It
describes the present situation of the US
Military Bases in Okinawa. Pupils andstudents in elementary schools and juniorhigh schools can read the book.
However, adults will also find the book
worth reading.

Edirtos Notes
We would like to thank Ms. Atsuko
Akamatsu and Ms. Emi Karimata totranslate articles into English.
Professor Anzai donated 100,000 yen for
the Donation-based Translation Fund to
make English version for the fee of nonvolunteer translators.
My special
appreciation goes to him. （Kazuyo）

The 5th volume lists museums, archive
centers, and monuments related to peacein Okinawa, including, The Tower ofSouls, The Tower of Children, The
Cenotaph for Koreans, The Cenotaph for
Each Prefecture of Japan, “Cornerstone ofPeace" Monument. Okinawa Prefectural
Peace Memorial Museum, Okinawa Peace
Prayer Hall, Himeyuri Peace Museum,
Tsushima-maru Memorial Museum,
Hansen’s Disease Museum, “Nuchi Do

Your Articles are welcome!
◆ Number of letters: about 500 lettersin Japanese◆ Hopefully 1 or 2 photos◆ Due Date: We will accept it at any
time. Please send your article tothe following email address.
musejapankyoto@gmail.com

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