Hiroshi Kunita, Part 2
Energy of new generation can bring change

Hiroshi Kunita with children in Kosovo in 1999.

Hiroshi Kunita

Born in Saijo City in Ehime Prefecture in 1968. After graduating from Kyoto University, he was a reporter at the Asahi Shimbun for 10 years, working in Kyushu and Tokyo. His coverage of NGOs prompted him to join Peace Winds Japan in 2003. While assuming responsibility for planning the group窶冱 activities in Japan, he has been involved in relief efforts for the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake in 2004, a major earthquake in Pakistan in 2005, and the Northern Sumatra Earthquake in 2009. When Peace Winds Japan opened a branch office in the city of Onomichi in 2007, he was appointed director. He lives in Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture.

Before I turned 20, my interest in issues related to conflict and poverty out in the world was no stronger than other people. I didn't have any formative experiences that prepared me for my current position, either. At the time I thought of becoming a psychologist or a teacher, but then I came to several turning points which ultimately led to my work at an NGO.

One turning point occurred just before I graduated from university. I traveled around Eastern Europe, right after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was my first trip overseas. On one hand, I felt the spiritual elation the people were experiencing as a result of their revolutions, where they were willing to shed blood for a free society. On the other hand, I saw how people were losing their livelihoods as a consequence of rising inflation. I also visited Auschwitz, Poland, the site of the world's worst genocide.

These travels didn't stir in me the desire to start helping people in need or taking action to promote peace. What occupied my mind back then was the excitement of visiting historical sites and my interest in world history and culture. At the same time, I came to feel that I wanted to move down a different path from my father, who was working as a high school teacher, and so I decided to become a newspaper reporter.

I encountered the next turning point 12 years ago when I was working in Tokyo and I was put in charge of a series on the work of NGOs. A conflict broke out in Kosovo, which resulted in scores of refugees. I flew there to report on the aid activities of Japanese NGOs and traveled around the area for a month to observe their work.

I came across the remains of battles that had recently been fought, such as buildings and bridges that had been destroyed by artillery, burned-out trucks, and refugees seeking shelter from the rain under tents distributed by aid groups. These sights left a strong impression on me, but something I found even more impressive were some young Japanese men and women of the same generation who were negotiating on equal footing in English with representatives of NGOs from other countries and from the United Nations. They were able to realize a project in which hundreds of temporary homes were built in a very harsh environment.

Until then, although I had respect for the passion of people working in the field of international cooperation, I didn't feel the effect and impact of the support they were providing was really sufficient. I even thought the work was more about their own self-satisfaction. However, when I saw the strong, systematic work being done in Kosovo by young people like me, I thought, "Their new energy might bring big changes to society."

Eight years have now passed since I changed careers in order to play a part in this effort. Whether I have the dynamic quality of the people I saw at that time, whether I'm straying into feelings of self-satisfaction, these are the questions I ask myself each day as I pursue my work.