| Chugoku Shimbun Peace News | |
| Lack of direction among 20s--burning cranes, passing out in A-bomb Dome | '03/8/5 |
- Little awareness of the A-bomb or war
Direction-less college students and other youth in their twenties are increasingly conspicuous in Peace Memorial Park, Naka-ku, Hiroshima. Setting fire to paper cranes offered to the Children's Peace Monument, passing out in the A-bomb Dome-behind such "youthful impulses" lies a generation with little or no awareness of the atomic bomb, peace, or social obligation. Cranes at the Children's Peace Monument were burned on August 1. A student (22) at Kwansei Gakuin University (Higashi Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture) was taken to Hiroshima Central Police Station and charged with destruction of property. He had come to Hiroshima for sightseeing and lit the cranes with his lighter. "I couldn't find a job so I was really frustrated." This motive, taken from his official deposition, is disgusting. Kazuo Hiramatsu, the president of his college, had to run to Hiroshima the next day to apologize. Fumio Kiyomasa (42) assistant director of Hiroshima Prefectural Hidankyo (Hiroshima Chapter of the Japan Confederation of A and H Bomb Sufferers Organizations; Chairman of the Board of Directors: Kazuto Fujikawa) hopes, "Whenever they have a bad time, they can't help hurting someone or something. This shows a lack of understanding of the atomic bomb. I wish families and schools would do a better job of conveying experiences of war to help them to understand the pain of others." In the ten months since a 24-hour camera surveillance system was installed around the Dome to prevent vandalism, the sensors have detected 15 unlawful entries into the property. Nine cases and eleven people were discovered by city staff or the police. Seven people (5 cases) were in their twenties. Of these, five were students from the Tokyo or Kansai areas. One was a part-time worker, the other a company employee. We heard about two students found passed out within the Dome property in March this year. A Hiroshima City spokesman said, "They see folded cranes as cranes made of paper. The Dome is an interesting building. That's as far as their consciousness goes. They understand the import of what they've done only after we explain the meaning and history." Professor Mitsutoshi Nakane of Hiroshima Shudo University (Contemporary Sociology) points to their emotional immaturity. "More young people today really don't know the rules of society. Like the gang rapes in Tokyo, they join in evil acts like a mob. There's a strong trend toward thinking only about building up the excitement then and there." (Caption)President Hiramatsu (2nd from right) in Hiroshima to apologize after a Kwansei student was arrested for burning paper cranes (August 2nd)
    
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