Muse No. 37
Japanese Citizens Network of Museums for Peace
Newsletter: August 2018
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: Noriko Hashimoto, Emi Karimata & Kazuyo Yamane
Illstrator: Erico Tosaki & Pegge Patten

The 17th National Conference ofJapanese Citizens Network of Museums for Peace
Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum
Katsumi Maedomari
On September 8th (Sat) and 9th (Sunday),2018, we will hold the17th

17:00 Administrative reportnationwide

17:20 Cleanup & Preparation for social

conference of the Japanese Citizens Network ofgathering

Museums for Peace in Okinawa.

18: 00 Social gathering

Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum will betaking care of the conference. We are looking

September 9 (Sun) at Himeyuri Peace Memorial

forward to having the participation of many

Museum ( 671-1 Ihara, Itoman City)

members. Let's meet in Okinawa!

9: 10 reception start

It will be held at Himeyuri Peace Hall (Naha

Report of each peace museum

City) on the first day and Himeyuri Peace

10:30 Himeyuri Memorial Museum staff’s

Memorial Museum (Itoman City) on the second"peace lecture" (about 40 minutes) andday.

exchange opinions

September 8 (Sat) at Himeyuri Peace Hall

12:00-12:30 General Assembly☆ Field work participants get together at(389-1, Naha City)
13:00 Start of registration

Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum 13: 30

13:30 Report of the organizer & report of each

14:00 Fieldwork ~ Following the battlefield

peace museum

related to Himeyuri school squad such as
1

Iaharathird

surgicalpit,

Yamashiro

Japanese Constitution and we cannot help saying

headquarters pit and Arasaki coast.

that it is discrimination against Okinawa. Also, I

18:00 arrive at Naha airport.

would like to display the contribution of Mr.
Taichi Yamaki and Mr. Kousaku Yamanaka from
Yamanashi to Okinawa because they weredeeply involved in Okinawa before and afterWorld War II.
This year is also the year of the milestone for
45 years after the death of Tanzan Ishibashi andthe 40 years anniversary of concluding the Peace
Treaty between Japan and China. 80 people
erico

attended the symposium commemorating the45th anniversary of the death of Tanzan
Ishibashi on April 22. A lecture was given by

YPM Celebrated its 11th Anniversary

Professor Noboru Saito, the president of Rissho
University, Mr. Tadashi Yamaguchi of Ishibashi

Tamotsu Asakawa

Tanzan Memorial Foundation and Mr. Takayuki

Directorm Yamanashi Peace Museum

Emiya, a writer.

The theme was what weshould learn from Tanzan Ishibashi.
Yamanashi Peace Museum (YPM) opened on

Regarding the 40th anniversary of the signing

26th May 2007 in Asake of Kofu city 11 yearsof the Japan-China Peace Treaty, on June 17,ago. In the meantime, during this time, visitors

former Chinese ambassador, Mr. Uichiro Niwa

exceeded 15,200.

We actively engaged in(photo) will give the 11th anniversary memorialplanning new exhibitions, monthly events, etc.

lecture "East Asia's Peace and the Japan-China

besides permanent exhibitions.

Relations" considering the situation of the

An exhibition of “Okinawa New Military

Korean Peninsula and East Asia.

Base Issues - Yamanashi and Battle of Okinawa" was held from June 3 after ending theexhibition of "80 Years of Sino-Japanese War”.
(Japan started invading China on July 7 in 1937.)
Now, in Okinawa, the Abe government isabout to build a new military base in Henoko
ignoring the will of opponents against the base※Translator’s Notes: Tanzan Ishibashi (1884～

construction. The current situation of Okinawa1973）was born in Tokyo, but he was raised

is a big problem from the viewpoint of pacifism,in Kofu where Yamanashi Peace Museum

the sovereignty and local autonomy of theexists. He was against Japan’s imperialism
2and insisted on peace, human rights andliberalism as a journalist.

He became the55th Prime Minister, but he had to retire after
two months because of illness. This is basedon the website of the peace museum.

The Chukiren Peace Memorial
Nobuo Serizawa
Secretary General
Last November I participated in the national
conference held at Ritsumeikan University and I
appreciate that I could interact with many people.
As for the memorial hall, usually only two
members of the executive director and theMonument of Chukiren

librarian are busy with the administrative work
(opening dates: Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday)"Chubu-nen/ Chiba branch" has built "Chukiren

and welcoming visitors.

Unfortunately, wemonument" (apology monument) in Myofukuji

have no time to organize data, but volunteers

temple of Sousa City in 1997, and we getregularly deal with them.

together on May 5 every year to remember the
returnees from China and exchange new

A board meeting is held four times a year atthoughts for peace, and that day is approaching

the memorial hall, and a lecture is given in thethis year as well.

afternoon for free. It is called the "Study

I am looking forward to seeing you

Meeting to learn from Chukiren". A lecture

again in September this year at the conference incalled "Article 9 of the Constitution is a

Okinawa.

Buddha's request” was given by Mr. Hajime

Sincerely

Miura on March 25th this year. He is a priest of

Nobuo Serizawa

Shingon Buddha who visited the peace museum
last year. As you may know, a peace exhibition

TEL & FAX: 049-236-4711 (Wednesday,

is held at a temple in Nagoya in March every

Sunday and Sunday)

year reflecting on their cooperation with World

E-mail: npo-kinenkan@nifty.com

War II. We are planning to invite Mr. Hidefumi

HP: http://npo-chuukiren.jimdo.com/

Terasawa of Manmo Kaitaku Peace Museum (onthose who were sent to Manchuria and Mongolia
during World War II) on May 26 this year.
3

building, allowing unspecified number ofvisitors to visit the center safely and comfortably.
We will renew the exhibition from now on. As aresult, the number of visitors in FY 2017
decreased by about 2000 persons. About 1,000of them is due to a decrease in schoolorganizations. Admission fees also declined by
20 % and decreased by 600 thousand yen.
Fundraising is significantly increased because of

Volunteers’ activities

donors of much money as well as fund-raising
for renewal because of multiple donors, which

The Center of the Tokyo Raids
and War Damage

was more than two and a half times the target.
As a result, it was the first surplus settlement ofaccounts.

Masahiko Yamane

The 16th anniversary of opening the Center

Researcherof the Tokyo Raids and War Damage was heldon March 4th and there were 330 participants.

Air raid victims’ movement was published by

The lecturer was Mr. Seiichiro Kuboshima, thethe Study Group on Dec. 8, 2017 and on Marchdirector of Mugonkan Art Museum and a writer.

10, 2018. The catalogue on the special

The title of his lecture was "Tokyo Big Air Raids

Exhibition "Air Raid Victims and Postwar

and I”. The lecture was so impressive thatJapan" was also published. We could publish

articles of introduction were published infour catalogues, hold the special exhibition andnewspapers nationwide.

a study meeting for 19 times, and ended the joint

Special event for the summer vacation on

research thanks to a grant of Scientific ResearchAugust 12 to 15 in 2017 called "Learn and share

whose achievements were more than weTokyo Air Raids with others " was held under the

expected.

auspices of Koto Ward Education Committee.

The research group of victims of US air raids

It was held at the Center of the Tokyo Raids andon Tokyo summarized the research results and

War Damage with story of the war experiences,published papers in a journal published by the

picture-story

Institute for Political Economy in March 2018.

experience notes, reading of picture books, andThe special exhibition about the victims of theso on. There were 565 participants. "17thair raids was held as the result of the research.

anniversary of the gathering of the statue of

There were 1077 visitors.

Children of Peace in the world" was held on May

In September 2017, we renovated buildings

show,

reading

of

air

raid

5, 2018.

and premises, for we responded to barrier-free

The Newsletter of the Center of the Tokyo
4

Raids and War Damage No. 31 was published on

multilingual.
Last year, members of the United Nations

July 1, 2017, and we published the newsletter No.

signed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of

32 on February 1 in 2018.

Nuclear Weapons and ratification has been
spreading. In the Daigo Fukuryuru Maru

Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall
Closed to Renew it

Exhibition Hall, according to the spirit of being“Mindful of the unacceptable suffering of andharm caused to the victims of the use of nuclear

Yusuke Hasunuma
Curatorweapons (hibakusha)”, a photo panel set (photo
journalist, Hiromitsu Toyosaki provided to
inform people in the world of damage by nuclear

On Yumenoshima (meaning Island of Dream)

tests) was made. As an opportunity to inform

Park (Koto Ward) where the Daigo Fukuryu

people of the damage of the 5th Lucky Dragon

Maru Exhibition Hall is located, construction isboat by nuclear weapons, we are calling forundertaken here and there for the Olympic andholding the exhibition everywhere during theParalympic Games. It is around this time thatclosed period. Also, reservations for visits after

trucks and contractors come and go and thespring will be accepted at any time even duringsafety of visitors is worried. In such aclosed period.

circumstance, we have the season of school
excursion with the most visitors in the year. A lotof elementary and junior high school students
visited the hall every day, learning about theFifth Lucky Dragon boat, the US hydrogenbomb tests in the Pacific Ocean, and the spreadof the damage by radiation. I am thinking about
how I could tell the students about such topics
while the time and the space of the exhibition arelimited.
In the usual year, when entering the summer

Daigo-Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall

vacation there are more citizens' tours hosted bymunicipalities, peace tours of citizen groups,
students for their free research and so on.
However, this year the exhibition hall will beclosed from July till next March until therenovation of the building is finished. Though I
have not experienced such a long- term closurefor nine months, I would like to work on renewal
such as refurbishing the aged building at thisopportunity,

makingtheexhibition

Young children listening to a guidemore5requested the removal of the statue, but the more

"Women’s Active Museum on War
and Peace" (WAM)

it has done, the more image of the statue has
spread. In fact, the statue has been erected in not
only in Korea but also in Asia, Europe and the

Eriko Ikeda

United States.

On May 16th 2018, WAM and a national

The Japanese government's attitude whichorganization supporting comfort women held aignores the argument over the historical incident

collective demonstration against the Ministry Of

has been highlighted internationally for past

Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) for pressuring

years and has been criticized. On the one hand,

the Philippine government to remove the Statue

Japanese media seems self-regulating onof Peace known as the “comfort woman statue”

covering this issue, which eventually gavein Manila. The organizations handed out theJapanese audience an impression that “comfort

statement to the MOFA and made a petition to

women's” issue has settled. In addition to this,seek a meeting with the Ministry in this regard.

right wing media’s influence on younger
generation cannot be ignored in this regard.

Under these circumstances, WAM is working on
the “comfort woman” archives project bycollecting,preserving

andpublishingtestimonies and materials in order to promote
this issue to the public audience and change thetide in Japan.
Protest in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
WAM and NGO members demanded the solutionof “comfort women’s” issue (May 16, 2018)

Along with the archive project, WAM held the
1st "Comfort Women" Museum Conference in

The Statue of Peace in front of the Japanese

April 2017. In November WAM held anembassy in Seoul Korea is the first statue, whichinternational symposium on the Record ofis elected in commemoration of 1000th

Human Rights Violations by the state and an

Wednesday Demonstrations of Korean “comfort

International symposium on grassroots archives.

women”

Wednesday

WAM is continuously working on register theDemonstration is a weekly protest in Korea“comfort women” archives to the UNESCO

which aims at obtaining justice from theMemory of the World (MoW). In 2016, theJapanese government regarding the large scale

Japanese government influenced a decision on

sexual slavery during World War II.

Mow registration.

in

2011.

The

At WAM, the special exhibition "silence of

The Japanese government has relentlessly

Japanese ‘comfort women’ - sex controlled by
6

the state" is being held from August last year.

general of the Peace Aichi, was appointed to the

The exhibition aims to raise the awareness of

second director of Peace Aichi. Mikiko Noma,

human rights violation especially towards

the first director, has been working hard with Mr.

women and sex trafficking in the context ofMiyahara, so anyone can recognize his skills. He

Japanese society which victims remain silent forhas shown his expert talent in the temperarya long time. The exhibition features not only

exhibition, making panels of the special

sexual violence which happened to “comfort

exhibitions, the design of posters, etc. Moreover,

women”, sexual assault at the time of

studying motivation is also very strong and hewithdrawal from Manchuria and the occupation

gained a curator qualification several years ago.

army landed.

His gentle yet persistent ability to act will begreatly expected in the future.

While “#MeToo" movement spreads
from Hollywood, it is said that “# MeToo”

Yukari Akazawa took office as a new

movement is originated in halmeoni

secretary general. Editing policy and images of(elderly women in Korean language,

many Peace Aichi publications are uniquereferring to the “comfort women” in thisthanks to her talent. I also believe that thecontext). Triggered by this, Korean society

management of the peace museum willkeeps an eye on sexual harassment anddemonstrate her own coordination power. Ms.

actively debate on this issue.

Mikiko Noma, who was retired, will also be
relieved and we would like to show our

The wave hasn’t reached Japanese society

appreciation to her.

yet on a massive scale. However, the case,sexual harassment of female journalist caused

At the research meeting of May, there was acontroversy in Japanese society. WAM foundsteady activity report over 9 years from Deputy

this opportunity to intensify its organizational

Director of Mr. Hideo Takegawa who isadvocacy – direct the eye to the past, eradicating

responsible

sexual violence - to change the Japanese society

Association". Thanks to the spread of narrator

which has been forcing victims to be silent.

dispatch activity to schools that received(Translated by Noriko Hashimoto)for"PeaceAichi

Narrators’

assistance from Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya
City, we visited 442 schools and organizations
and met 41,149 people in the 10 years from 2007

Peace Aichi’s New Director
Mr. Daisuke Miyahara

to 2017: our visit was 644 times.
An evolving transition from 'narrators’ talk'to 'hands-on' way from the old generation to new

Yutaka Maruyama

ones is ongoing. How to overcome the difficulty
Mr. Daisuke Miyahara, former secretaryof handover of war memory, how to respond to7

students' and children's heart, and various

Peace Exchange Center was Openedin Toyokawa City in Aichi Prefecture

methods and efforts are being considered.
Problems such as the successors of the war
experiences, the permanent and temporary
exhibition, the way of the exhibition, the guide

In Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, "Toyokawa

training etc. cannot be separated from the history

Peace Park (tentative name) Development Basiceducation.

Concept" was made in May 2014 to take

One

way

to

go

in

the

futureisadvantage of saving the war ruins of Toyokawa"Expeditionary collaboration". This means that

Navy Yard as a place to learn the preciousness ofmuseums and schools work together to create apeace from the history of the Navy Yard. The

new educational practice. Currently, active

peace park called Toyokawa Navy Yard Peacelearning is mainstream in the new course ofPark was opened on June 9, 2018 (Saturday).

study. Although there are various criticism, as a

Here was once a place where there was theplace of development of integrated learning

Toyokawa Navy Yard with the biggest arsenal of(social tour, school trip, cultural festival), thechoice of peace learning direction or traditional

the East, and over 2500 people were killed bycultural learning (historical district museum) is

the US air raids on August 7, 1945, which is sad

immediate. Roles to tell the memory of history

history.

to young generations from the museum where
they tend to observe the past history is required.

Inside the park there is a peace exchange hall

Peace Aichi is very small and has no specializedthat introduces the history of the war remains,theme, but efforts have become widely

such as the navy ship's fire warehouse, the fusediversified. Mr. Miyahara, the new Director andrepository and the history of the naval arsenal,

Ms. Akazawa, the new Executive Director are

which is the living witness of history. Why don’t

the cores of the Peace Aichi. Now is the time

you visit this park and learn about the pastwhen we need bird's eye adjustment. The two of

history and think about the preciousness ofthem believe that volunteers will support thepeace?

peace museum and hope that they will start a
new operation.

The Toyokawa City Peace Exchange Center(Please see the article of Chunichi Newspaper

has a multipurpose room that explains the

published on June 16 in 2018 for details.)

history of the Toyokawa Navy Arsenal and theremains of the war on panels and materials, a
guidance room to watch video materials and to
give historical lectures. It is a base facility forvolunteers to convey the Toyokawa Navy
Industry story to future generations, and we areplanning to organize volunteer activities such as

Study meeting in May at the Peace Aichi

explaining the exhibition and navy industry
8

information.

afterwards.

People

of

Yazdi

were

instantaneously robbed of everyday life that has
An article about the opening of the park was

been running for generations at the foot of

published in the East Aichi newspaper (June 10,

Mount Shingal in the northwestern part of Iraq.

2008).

We will display a number of works that captured
the individuals' lives of living in the future with

Reference: Toyokawa City's website

nostalgia.

http://www.city.toyokawa.lg.jp/saijibunka/rekis
hi/heiwakouenkaien.html

Yazdi's Prayer - Noriko Hayashi Photo
Exhibition : April 14, 2018 (Sat) - July 16 (Mon)in 2018

Peace exchange hall inside the park

Kyoto Museum for World Peaceat Ritsumeikan University
Poster of the exhibition

Kazuyo Yamane: Expert advisor
There was a photo exhibition on Yazdi

A film called "the Constitution as a weapon

minorities by a photo journalist named Noriko- Eniwa incident: unknown truth after 50 years"

Hayashi. Yazdi, people who had their own

was shown on May 2nd and there was discussion

religion and lived mainly in the Middle East

by Mr. Isao Naito, an attorney involved in theregion, were killed in 2014 by the Islamic

incident, Mr. Hidetaka Inazuka who produced

extremist group called IS, and women were

the film and Professor Akihiko Kimijima.

exhibition

The Eniwa incident occurred and it became

introduces photograph collection of "Yazdi's

anti-military court case that took place inprayer" in which she repeatedly interviewed

Hokkaido in the 1960s. Farmers protested

Yazdi who had escaped to Iraq, Germany andagainst Self-Defense Forces and insisted on theirothers, and the record of the survey coverageright to live in peace using the Constitution.

raped

and

slaughtered.

This

9

In the 1980s, various events bearing “Peace”
such as "Peace Tanabata Festival", "Peace Art
Exhibition", "Peace Film Festival", "AntiNuclear Peace Concert" spread through thecitizens and gathered momentum at the popularlevel. Since 1996 the series of initiatives arecalled "Peace Wave", our exhibition is a part of
the Wave and promotes peace.
The Exhibition on Thinking of War andPeace`s special focus is "Meiji 150 years". The
Poster of “The Constitution as a weapon”

Meiji era is the time the Japanese society
drastically changed from being a feudal society
which had Shogun ruling the nation to a

40th exhibition on thinking of
War and Peace
Peace Museum, Grass House

Westernized society.
“Learning from Menji Spirit and reaffirming
our strength are very important” said Prime

Deputy Director

Minister, Shinzo Abe. He glorified Meiji era

Keisuke Okamura

during the New Year’s speech and the beginningof

In Asia, nearly the end of Pacific War, July 4,

ordinarydietsession.

government

held

a

The

seriesofJapanese
events1945, Kōchi City, located on the island ofcommemorating Menji 150th anniversary from

Shikoku in Japan was attacked by 125 B-9

its birth in 1868.

bombers of the US military aircraft. Only anhour air raid burned most part of the city, entirely

Fukoku kyōhei, "Enrich the state, strengthenor partially damaged 11,912 houses, and took

the armed forces", was Japan's national slogan
during the Meiji period. Centered on this slogan,

451 lives.

Japan starting with dispatching its military to
Taiwan, fought First Sino-Japanese War and

To commemorate this historical event, theJapan-Russo War sacrificed lives of Korean andfirst exhibit was held on July 4, 1979 and since

Chinese people, which made Japan “the first-

this time it has been held annually. It aims toclass” nation.

remind us of not forgetting the tragic event andnever repeat that again. Today, the exhibit

The invasion expanded to the Pacific War,marked 40th year. Over four decades, the exhibit

resulting in more than 20 million lives in Asia

major theme has been expanded from regionaland 3 million lives of Japanese nationals, finallyspecific theme - the air raids in Kochi to winder

the Japan Empire collapsed in 1945. This tragic

themes - thinking of War and Peace.
10Oka Masaharu Memorial
Nagasaki Peace Museum

rail was laid in the Meiji era.
After World War II, Japan has been reborn asa country which has the Pacifist Constitution as

Nobuyuki Sakiyamaa national policy. We believe that we must learn

Director Generalfrom past mistakes and rethink "the Meiji 150
year" as historical lenses which give us insight

We welcomed Mr. Kim Sung-min, theof the present and future of our country.

director of the 731 Unit Museum in Harbin in
China on November 11 with the cooperation of
Kumamoto's Peace and Human Rights Forum.
The museum has a friendly relation to thismuseum and he gave a lecture. From December
12th to 19th, I joined the study tour of thememorial meeting at Nanjing (Ms Tamaki
Matsuoka as the representative) with two college
students. It was the 15th tour for Japan-China

A photograph immediately after the Kochi air
raid was discovered for the first time and it was
exhibited in the Grassroots House.

friendship and hope and 17th tour for friendshipwith China.

In 2018, the first North Korea-US talks in
In addition, we concluded an academic

history have been held. This move means theEast Asia has had a turning point, and moved one

exchangemore step toward peace in the region. With thisFoundation for Supporting Victims who wereregard, we hope Japan will openly discuss theforced to work in Japan during WWII in Pusan

modern Japanese history among ourselves and inagreement

with

the

Koreanin the Republic of Korea on February 26 thisthe near future the historical point of view canyear. The foundation runs History Museum on

be shared with East Asian people.

Forced Labor by Japan’s Imperialism and we
decided to undertake joint projects in the future.
We held the "Memorial Day of Mr. Yasutoshi
Takazane" on April 7th when Mr. Takazane
passed away in 2017 at the museum. We madea corner on his contribution to the peace museum
and also published a book on him: Have Firm

This year, a fiery burned fence during the US
Kochi air raid was discovered.

Historical Recognition – Memorial Issue of Mr.
Yasunori Takazane (1,000 yen).

(Translated by Noriko Hashimoto)11

Himeyuri Peace Research Center and the startof a new rotating exhibit “Passing on the War
Experience to the Future.” The mission of the
Himeyuri Peace Research Center is toimprove research and education in order todeliver the museum’s message to the world.
Started in 2017, the exhibit “Passing on

Academic exchange agreement

the War Experience to the Future” is themed(as the title suggests) on educating future
generations about the memories of war. One
part of this exhibit is a report about the 9th
INMP conference and visits to four museums:
the Peace Museum in the United Kingdom, theMuseum of Free Derry in North Ireland, theAnne Frank House in the Netherlands, and the
War and Women Museum in South Korea. The
report highlights new methods and viewpointsof peace museums through panels andMemorial Day of Mr. Takazane

displayed items. The other part of the exhibit
focuses on Himeyuri Peace Museum’s

A lecture was given by Mr. Junosuke

longstanding goal to pass on the stories of the

Yasukawa, a leading expert on research of

Himeyuri to future generations. It further

Yukichi Fukuzawa on June 10. The title wasdescribes how new generations—that never“Let’s question Japan's ‘modern’ and ‘postwar

experienced war—have been working withdemocracy’ – Criticizing "Fukuzawa Yukichi

survivors and also details their specificmyth." In the lecture the role of Yukichi

approaches.

Fukuzawa was made clear in terms of promoting

In addition, Himeyuri Peace Museum will

the way to Japan’s aggressive warfare andhold a Memory Walk workshop, which is held

imperialism.

by Anne Frank House all over the world. This
event will be held in August.

Himeyuri Peace Museum
Katsumi Maedomari, Curator
In 2017, Himeyuri Peace Museum began
new initiatives, such as participation in the
The new exhibit room and museum visitors

INMP conference, establishment of the
12

The latest big news at the museum is

Discrimination against humanrights violations caused by "nuclear"that Yoshiko Shimabukuro, our 7th director,
retired on March 2018. Since April, former
vice director, Choukei Futenma, has assumed
the role of director. Mr. Futenma is the first

Keisa Okamura

director with no war experience, as wasVice Director,featured in many Japanese media. Although

Grassroots HousePeace Museum

this is a quite big turning point for the museum,
which has always been managed by Himeyuri

I am currently indignant about the "nuclear

alumnae, the staff members who deeply

issues" through the interview with the photo

understand the founders’ philosophy will keepcollection called "NO NUKES". In the case of

up their efforts to improve and sustain the

US nuclear tests on the Bikini Atolls, themuseum’s message.

subsequent life of the former crew members

In this coming September, a long-

were full of suffering because only the fishermen

awaited event, Japanese Citizens’ Network ofof the "Fifth Lucky Dragon Boat Incident" wasMuseums for Peace will be held in Okinawa.

dealt with by the Japanese and US governments.

All members are very looking forward to※Translator’s note: there were about 1000 boats

seeing the participants at Himeyuri Peacethat were exposed to radiation during the nuclear

Museum.
Lastly,astheaveragetests, but such facts were hidden for a long time.

Himeyurisurvivors is well into the 90’s, still they tellMr.

their stories to museum visitors four or five

Seki

Oishi

said,

"We

receivedharassment from some people because we got atimes each month.

small amount of money as US compensation.
After 2 years I went out to Tokyo and started acleaning shop and then I lived for 15 years while
hiding being a hydrogen bomb victim. "Masaho Ikeda said, "I promised marriage
before I left Japan, but she did not see me after I
was exposed to radiation by the US nuclear testin the Pacific Ocean. After I left the hospital, I
suffered from jealousy and discrimination
against hibakusha.” He escaped from Kochi to

Yoshiko Shimabukuro and museum staff members

Kyoto and has sealed the case of the bikini
incident for over 10 years. He told about his（Translated by Emi Karimata）

life of suffering.
13

On the other hand, Bikini incident was

was forced to evacuate from Fukushima went toconcealed by the Governments of Japan and thea different school. When he tried to help his

United States and it is as if "there was no nuclear

classmate who had dropped something from his

incident."

About 20 thousand fishermen’sdesk, he was told not to touch it because

human rights and life has been ignored and they

radiation is contagious. He was also bullied bysuffered from stomach cancer, colorectal cancer,

being said that he was dirty and he must haveleukemia and so on and lost their lives when

been given compensation money, which madethey were still young without knowing why. The

him feel like committing suicide many times.

bikini nuclear disaster incident can be said to be

However, he decided to live though it is painful

one of the biggest human rights violation

because so many people were killed by the big

incidents after the World War II.

earthquake.

There

is

another

storyofdiscrimination against people who were forced
What happened to hibakusha in Hiroshima?

to evacuate. When a person moved to Iwaki CityAt the age of eleven, Ms. Sachiko Iwagi who

in Fukushima, she visited her neighbors with awas bombed in Hiroshima said, "I was 18 years

small gift. However, all of the gifts wereold and I went to Osaka for work, but I was

returned to her later, and also electoral power ofrefused by saying "Atomic bomb survivors areher house under construction was cut, which

not good because their illness is contagious."

made the victims angry because it was as if

Even if I go to Tokyo, It was the same · · · I hated

people told them not to come.

the war most at this time." "There is a big burnon my back. I went to the public bath and I was

I interviewed atomic bomb survivors in Kochi

told, "Do not come in because you are dirty."

20 years ago and also victims of the nuclear

Only my child went to the public bath, but she

accident in Fukushia. Now I listen to the story

was told, "Your mother is sick, please stopof the victims of US nuclear tests in the Bikini

coming." She cried and came home. I said to her,Atolls this time.

"I am so sorry that you can’t go to the public bathjust because I was atomic bombed,” while

There is a common 'nuclear' damage involving

washing her body at home. “It was after my next

the US, and even after 73 years after the war,child entered junior high school that my child

Japan has a low level of human rights awareness.

could go to the public bath," she said.

I hope that I am not alone to feel miserable andsad about such a situation.

What about hibakusha by the nuclear

I am working tocomplete the publication of the photo collection

accident in Fukushima? People have beencalled "NO NUKES" in November.

suffering from various discrimination after the

I am fundraising using Cloud Funding for thisfirst nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima

photo book.

on March 11 in 2011. For example, a child who

https://a-port.asahi.com/projects/no-nukes
14

In addition,

Memorial Hall（permanent exhibition）

Prayer for Peace Museum
at Chinzei Gakuin Academy

Opening day: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
10 : 00 ~ 16 : 00
(closed during high school and university holidays)

Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture

Entrance fee: freeContact: Chinzei Gakuin（0957-26 -8200）

School corporation Shitennishi Gakuin which is

http://www.wesleyan.ac.jp/information/?itemid

the mother body of our university celebrated=2090

the 136-year foundation in October 2017.
Established in Nagasaki Higashiyamatemachi,

Introduction to
Newspaper Reporta school building was built, but after 15 years it
was destroyed by the atomic bomb and moved
to Isahaya. Chinzei institute has a sense ofHiroshima Nobori-cho Elementary

mission as an atomic bombed school, praying

School: Peace Memorial Room
Opened in May

for world peace, and established a memorial
hall that looks back on the history of the school.

"The Nobori Peace Memorial Room" wascompleted in Nobori-cho elementary school(Naka Ward), and it was made public by theschool officials on May 12th. It is Sadako Sasaki's alma mater and her statue became a model ofthe "image of the child atomic bombed " in thePeace Memorial Park.

The room contains

information about Sadako. Graduates and local
135 year school history corner

residents

donatedmaterials

andparents

cooperated.
The room was the renovated conference
room on the 1st floor of the school building. It is
a composition by which visitors think about
peace and atomic bombs, tracing the history of
the town and communities from Meiji era to thepresent age. About 100 pieces including
Prayer for Peace corner with diary on Aug. 9 1945

photographs after the atomic bombing, peace
related books, folded cranes made by Sadako,※Chinzei Academy Peace Memorial Museum

and graduation album by Sadako 's 6 grade class

Location: Chinzei Academy 100th Anniversary
15

will be exhibited. Nearly half of the materials

Hiroshima) from a young age."

were donated.

If you apply in advance, the peace room isavailable from 9 am to 12 am every Friday.

Nobori Elementary school is known as

Please contact

Sadako's alma mater and various people visit

Nobori-cho Elementary School (082-221-3013)

there. However, "There was nothing to show,(Hiroki Kitamura)even if they came," Yasushi Shimamoto said

※ Source: Asahi Shimbun Digital ( 2 018.5.13 )being aware of the problem.

https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL5D4GZ6L5DPITB008.html

However,whenteachers

organized

multipurpose classrooms last year, various
materials were found. The panels showing thedamage of the atomic bomb were donated to theschool by Mr. Kikuo Okabe (69), the head of theneighborhood association. Mr. Shimamoto
consulted with Mr. Okabe about opening a peaceroom. The plan was discussed with Mr. Okabe
who is familiar with local history and others.
According to Mr. Motomichi Yamagata (42) ofthe PTA president, PTA got the understanding of
the parents and the expenses of the case for
The Visit by Pegge Patten 2013exhibition were financed by the PTA.
The Nobori-cho Elementary school chooses

Overseas Peace Museum News

Nagasaki City as a school trip destination lastyear and is seeking new peace education such as

Please see the Japanese version of the INMP

interacting with local children. This autumn six

Newsletter on the following website.

graders will guide younger pupils to war remains

https://www.inmp.net/newsletters-in-japanese/and explain them. The peace room is planned
to be used for such learning.

Breaking News

Ms. Kaori Maeda (44) who visited the peaceroom on May 12th is mother of a 8th grader. She

Prof. Ikuro Anzai Becomes the New
Coordinator of the INMP

said, "If they fold cranes at this school, theywould feel Sadako as a familiar older sister. I
want them to know firmly (history of

The "International Network of Museums for16

Peace" (INMP) was founded in 1992 on theexists only in Japan and the members hold theinitiative of British Quakers’ "Give Peace A

key to the development of the world peace

Chance Trust" at the University of Bradford.

museumKazuyo Yamane who was in charge ofmembership fee is 2000 yen in Japan, and theinternational exchanges at the Grassroots House

members can read not only Japanese and English

and Prof. Kimio Yakushiji, Professor of Faculty

quarterly newsletters but also internationalof Law of Ritsumeikan University, etc. attended

conference information etc. as soon as possible.

the first conference.

Approximately 25 people participated in the

movement.

Current

annualprevious conference (Belfast) in 2017. I would
Since 26 years, the organization has been

like to invite you to the INMP and introduce

gradually developed and now it has a quarterly

your daily activities to the whole world at the

newsletter, a website with rich content, and an

next INMP conference in 2020.

international conference is held almost once

Contact: Ikuro Anzai, the Kyoto Museum forevery three years. The 3 rd conference ( 1998 )World Peace, Kitamachi, Tojiin, Kitaku, Kyoto

and the 6 th conference ( 2008 ) were held also

City 603-8577

in Japan, but in the year 2020 where the Tokyo
Olympic Games will be held, the 10th conference

Editing Postscript

will be held again in Japan. Its preparation is
ongoing.

"Muse" Newsletter is for everyone
involved in the "museums for peace" to

The INMP Secretariat was near the Peace

share what they are thinking about peace

Palace in The Hague (Netherlands) until June,

museums, their experiences, lessons learned

but there are also financial problems and it willby each peace museum, and issues clarified

be moved to the Kyoto Museum for World Peacefrom them. With an editorial member,at Ritsumeikan University in July.

Kazuyo Yamane, cooperation of volunteers
helped make English version, and it has
been introduced to readers in the world as"Muse Newsletter". In the future, with thehelp of volunteers who can work together totranslate this "rare newsletter in the world,"
I hope that you will contribute articles tothis newsletter. Editors expect members of
the Japanese Citizens Network of Museums

Prof. Ikuro Anzai, the new INMP coordinator

for Peace to write articles: about 500 letterswith one or two photos.

It is said that the Peace Museum movement
17