Flickering in the evening dusk was a peace appeal created by the youth. The 2003-Person Lantern Peace Appeal took place in Central Park in Naka-ku, Hiroshima City during the evening of the 6th. The 1300 lanterns that were carried to the park in response to a simple call from by young organizers conveyed the spirit of the new Hiroshima.

They began to gather around 4:30 p.m. - groups of students in low-slung pants, young couples, young women wearing yukata (cotton kimono), families with small children. With folk music blaring over the speakers, the ambience was that of a summer festival.

Mayo Sato (24) who pushed her two-year-old son in a stroller, said, "The term 'peace movement' puts me off, but I was relieved when I saw how relaxed the mood is." A 19-year-old vocational school student from Hatsukaichi said nonchalantly, "I figured it was better than doing nothing."

In March, 6000 people who opposed the Iraq war had gathered at the same spot to create a "human message." They had dream up the idea of using the lanterns to form the word "peace" in Chinese characters, Korean characters, and Arabic letters. Some of the August 6 participants had attended the earlier event. "We will keep doing this until our wishes come true."

Company employee Yoshiko Kadota (33), one of the event organizers, greeted us with a smile. "I'm happy that people who couldn't observe August 6th during the day felt they could attend without worrying about it."

The lanterns remained lit in the park for 30 minutes, then were set to float in the river. Setsuzo Imanishi (75), who came to watch the spectacle from his home near the park, said, "Having lived through that day, truth is, I don't like big to-dos about it. But we victims are happy to see young people taking on our thoughts and feelings as their own."

- High school students from Hannover and Hiroshima discuss peace

Grassroot exchanges are a shortcut to peace. Fourteen high school students from Hannover, Hiroshima's sister city for years, and 30 young people from Hiroshima discussed peace and promised each other they would definitely work to deepen goodwill in the future.

At the International Conference Center Hiroshima in Peace Memorial Park, they broke into four groups and exchanged opinions. During World War II, Hannover lost more than 1200 people to massive air attacks. An 18-year-old Hannover student who had learned about the war from her grandparents said, "I need to inherit this experience, and what happened in Hiroshima from my elders."

The Hiroshima students, who included third-generation hibakusha, shared A-bomb experiences they had heard. A 17-year-old Hannover student threw this question out: " What can we do to make sure this terrible tragedy doesn't happen again?"

Reflecting general German public opinion, the German students harshly criticized the U.S. and British pre-emptive attack on Iraq. Most of the German students in the group had evidently participated in anti-war demonstrations. One said, "It seems that the Japanese government now supports the war." A third-year high school student from Minami-ku expressed her frustration. "Our opinions don't reach the ears of the government."

The one-hour-plus discussion left each group with the same conclusion. "If we young people make contact with people from different countries and learn about each other's history and viewpoints, peace will grow." Hiroko Yoshida (21) from Naka-ku, an exchange student at a U.S. university, reported on the conclusions of the discussions.

(Caption)(top) Young people line up their lanterns, entrusting to them their simple hopes for peace.
(bottom) Students from Hannover and Hiroshima exchange views on peace.