Category Archives: ゲスト・スピーカー

A day in Nagasaki City

Foto with atomic bomb survivor in the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki City

Today, we went to Nagasaki. We had heard earlier last week from Omura – san, a representative from the local community, about his troubles finding a survivor of the atomic bomb in the town that we are staying in, Omura.

No one of the people that he asked wanted to speak about the experience, due to their fear of discrimination, and, for some of them, the hate towards foreigners. Yesterday, I heard from my host – grandfather that he was a survivor of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. He shoved me a notebook containing his information from when the bombs were dropped.

In the notebook I could see that he was 3 years old when the atomic bombs were dropped. I assumed that the notebook was some kind of way for the Japanese governement to keep track of survivors and reunite their families. My host – grandfather diden’t tell me a lot about his experience, probably because of the strong feelings that he is still harburing in connection with the experience.

I knew that when we whent to Nagasaki City we would go to the atomic bomb and listen to a survivor telling us about her experience.

Both the museum and the survivors speech were emidiadly educational.

While I had learned about the atomic bombs in school back in Sweden, it was a whole different experience seeing the destruction in the museum and hearing about the effects directly from a survivor. Listening to the survivor and seeing the remains of both people and rabble in the museum changed my impression of the bombing experience.

I knew what happend was horrible but i believed that no one, exept the survivors, would actually be able to know exactly how horrible the atomic bombings actually were.

Thinging back upon what I have learned, heard and experienced today, I have decided to start i new project. I will create a video to show to the world, accompanied by music, using the materials that i gathered today.

This is for myself to show my appretiation to the people making this possible, and to sharewhat I have learned and experienced today with other people in the world.

Joel (Sweden)

平和的でない過去を持つ穏やかな男性

日本に来るだびに日本人が『平和』を大切にする重要性をより理解できるようになります。広島や長崎で起こった厳しく衝撃的な原爆の悲劇を受ければ、どの国でも『平和』という言葉を真剣に受け止めるようになるでしょう。

今回、私たちは長崎で被爆された方からお話を聞くことができました。原爆投下の当時15歳だった彼が経験したものは、無邪気ですがとても現実味がありました。81歳になられた現在、1945年に起きた悲劇の出来事を乗り越え、世界平和を広げる一人として今まで生きてこられたことを感謝されていました。

Rianne and Iris with the survivor


1998年彼が教員の仕事を退職した後、彼は自分の被爆体験を人に伝えようときめて13年が経ちます。年間70回以上もの講話をされ、彼は人々に原爆の事実を伝えていますが、もっとも重要なのは、“憎しみ”ではなく人に伝えていくことなのだと信じています。

彼はワールドキャンパスのメンバーに約1時間、彼の経験を話してくれました。最後の彼の言葉はとても穏やかで簡単でしたが、彼が持つ前向きな力はどんな言葉よりも私たちに強く伝わりました… 「私が教師の仕事を退職してからは世界平和を伝えることが私の仕事です。私はこの仕事を死ぬまで続けます。」

World Campus Japan members with the Survivor


私はそこに座り、昨年も同じように感じたようにワールドキャンパスでお互いの文化を学び、それぞれの参加者や国について理解をし、お互いを尊敬しあうことが大切ということを思い出しました。

彼の講話の後、質疑応答や写真の時間がありました。私たちにハグをし、“I love you” と言ってくれました。過去に様々なことをたくさん乗り越え、素晴らしい人生観を持った人に会い、とても感動しました。

Celi and Brandon with the Survivor


世界そして若者にとって、恐れず一歩前に踏み出す新しい時代なのだと私は信じています。相手の気持ちになって考え、お互いを理解する時代なのです。より良い世界にしていくためには、一人ずつの努力が必要です。それは簡単なことではありませんが、今、私たちが自分たちや世界中のために平和に向けて始めなければいけないのです。

(Celiana Dolovitz – Education Manager in the Summer ‘11 Road Team)

Commitment to Peace

Nagasaki survivor

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb dropped only 3 days after the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb and all the after effects of the bombs were not only negative. Even when it sounds really weird to say that a bomb can bring anything positive; in Japan, the A Bombs brought a really interesting peace culture for the country of Japan where people not only know about Nuclear weapons but they also know about the importance of Peace, promoting peace and understanding peace.

The country itself has 3 principles of peace: to not own, fabricate or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons. This principles not only contribute to the peace of the country of Japan, but it contributes to the promotion of World Peace.

The picture above is of a survivor we had the opportunity to speak with before we visited the museum, he is also someone very committed to the promotion of peace not only in Japan but around the world.

Session 2 of World Campus – Japan and World Campus International is also committed to peace. We offered 1000 cranes we made with our host families to be part of the effort they are making in Nagasaki to promote peace.

The Day the World changed

Gold Crane

It was Monday, Aug. 6th of the year 1945, when Hiroshima City was hit by “Little Boy”, a bomb that destroyed and devastated not only buildings and belongings but lives and futures of endless people. This time, World Campus – Japan Participants had the unique and once in a life time opportunity to meet a survivor from that horrible event. She was 14, in 9th grade and she shared her story, her pain and her forgiveness with us. She told us every detail of her experience. We heard everything from pain, burned bodies, skin hanging from people’s arms, dead left and right, friends asking for help, mothers crying for their babies, fathers looking for their families, “black rain” and people losing their mind. “…It was scary to see the condition of the people around me, everything was dust, darkness and destruction”…she said.

140.000 kids were left without families that day and her father died of cancer a year and a half after the bomb do to the radiation he was exposed to. She also explained that even today, there are people still suffering from the after effects, like herself who is suffering from stomach cancer.

That afternoon we had an eye opening experience, the facts were there but today there is nothing we can do to undo what happened in 1945. “… To honored my father and friends that died because of the atomic bomb, I am now committed for life, to talk about it to promote peace”.

Her acceptance of reality is deep and her passion to teach others about the importance of tolerance, understanding and peace around the world is what makes her stronger every day. It was something she will never be able to forget and for us, is now, a huge responsibility, to spread the message of hope and peace around our own circles, communities, cities and countries.

広島平和記念館での体験

Hiroshima Survivor Speech

約一ヶ月前、WCIメンバーは長崎の原爆資料館を訪れて被爆者である吉田勝二さんの語りを聞きました。皆にとってもこの経験は心が動かされるもので あり、とても意味のあるものでした。今回は広島の原爆資料館で、8月6日に落とされた原爆の被爆者である新宅勝文さんが彼の体験と思いを語ってくれまし た。 第二次世界大戦が終わって60年以上が過ぎた現在、広島に落とされた原爆の爆心地に立ってみると、歴史はとても身近に感じ、同時にとても遠いものに 感じました。周囲を見渡してみると、夏の暑い日差しに照らされている広島があるだけで、原爆で完全に破壊された都市なんて想像もつきませんでした。記念碑 を囲んでいるたくさんの色鮮やかな折鶴は、この恐ろしい悲劇を忘れてはならないことを物語っていました。

新宅さんの体験が語られる中、私達は原爆投下直後の恐ろしい情景を鮮明に思い浮かべました。小さな子供が親の名前を泣きながら叫ぶ光景が頭に浮かび、当時 被害を受けた市民が目の辺りにしたどうしようもない無力感を感じ、私達は涙を流しました。長崎原爆資料館で吉田さんが言ったことを思い出しました。
「平和への一歩は人が他人の痛みを理解することから始まる。」

このような体験談を聞くことで、そして聞いた人々は平和がいかに大切かということに気づくだろうと思いました。そして、こんな悲劇をもう二度と繰り返さないようにそれぞれの人が努力するだろうと信じています。

(Zuxin Hou, China)