Through the eyes of other countries
Hiroshima inspires peace

Students of Hiroshima International School, who responded to our questionnaire.

Many visitors from abroad come to Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. In 2005, the number topped 230,000, a new high. This shows that Hiroshima is a gathering place for people who seek peace.

Today the junior writers want to focus on the idea of Hiroshima's power to inspire. Does the experience of Hiroshima move people to become more interested in peace issues?

We distributed a questionnaire to 70 non-Japanese residents in Hiroshima and the results confirmed our assumption. More than 60% of all respondents, 43 people, responded "I became more interested in peace issues after I came to Hiroshima."

We also offered nearly the same questionnaire to Japanese teenagers to find out what they think about peace. We believe it's important that Japanese youth are aware of Hiroshima's power to inspire in order to advance towards a more peaceful world.

People of various nationalities receive the questionnaire

The 70 non-Japanese residents who completed our questionnaire ranged from teenagers to people in their 40s. We wanted to know what sort of impact living in Hiroshima has had on them. And to compare their feelings with those of people who were born in Hiroshima, we distributed a very similar questionnaire to 50 Japanese students in elementary school, junior high school, and high school in Hiroshima.

For the non-Japanese group, in addition to over 60% feeling that they became more interested in peace-related issues after arriving in Hiroshima, 69% remarked that Hiroshima engages more actively in peace activities than cities in their own countries. And 48 people said that they themselves have taken part in peace activities.

In this regard, 34 people "have been to Peace Memorial Museum," 27 people "have watched videos or read books about war and peace," and 24 people have "listened to a talk by survivors of the bombing or peace researchers." We found that some have even participated in "speech contests about peace."

On the other hand, 9 people responded that they "weren't aware of peace activities" and this is the main reason they haven't taken part.

As for the 50 Japanese students, 64% (32 students) agreed that "my interest in peace issues has been stimulated by living in Hiroshima." 42 students reported that they have participated in some kind of peace activity, while only one student had "never studied peace education in school." (Ryu Kanchika, 17, Yuki Sakata, 13, Konno Reika, 12)

Interviews with three non-Japanese residents of Hiroshima


Austria Translating atomic bomb materials into German In lieu of military service, Cezar Constantinescu (26) has been working at Peace Memorial Museum since January of this year as a "peace activity volunteer." He responds to inquiries in German and encourages other countries to join Mayors for Peace. Cezar has personal experience of the difficulties of peace. When he was five years old, his family fled the dictatorship of Romania and resettled in Austria. He says, "I have two mother countries. But I couldn't fight for either one as a soldier." This remark illustrates his anti-war feelings. "I would like to translate the website of Peace Memorial Museum into German so that more people can read it and know the damage the A-bomb caused," he added. It will be interesting to see what happens with Cezar in Hiroshima. (Aya Nakashige, 17)	Rwanda The challenges of reconstruction Willy Ndizeye, a staff member of the Ugandan Ministry of Home Affairs, told us "I want to learn about Hiroshima's miraculous reconstruction after World War II." He took part in a training program concerned with peace-building for post-conflict countries, which was organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He learned about post-conflict reconstruction in Hiroshima and elsewhere in Japan, and the administration of peace activities in Hiroshima with eight government officials from Uganda and Sierra Leone. Because of civil war in Rwanda, where his family is from, Willy grew up in neighboring Uganda as a refugee. When the war ended in 1994, he returned to Rwanda, but everything was destroyed and "we had to start again from zero, like Hiroshima." After completing the training, he told us "I learned that local people must work together well in order to overcome the challenges of reconstruction. Not only as a civil servant, but also as a Rwandan, I'll try my best to help rebuild our society in Rwanda." He also appreciates this experience, saying "I was very encouraged by the people of Hiroshima. I hope you will continue sending messages of peace to post-conflict countries and regions." (Naru Nishida, 15)	Guatemala Hope relieves the pain of conflict Fernando Lopez (43) runs the okonomiyaki restaurant "LOPEZ" in Hiroshima. (Okonomiyaki is a local dish, a kind of crepe filled with meat and cabbage.) Guatemala experienced a long civil war from 1960 to 1996. During this period, his friends and neighbors were killed by guerrillas and the police. He says "Hiroshima taught me what peace is for the first time in my life." He married a Japanese woman from Hiroshima and he has lived in Japan for ten years. In the beginning, he didn't think anyone would be interested in Guatemala. However, this changed after he met some citizens of Hiroshima who have been working to support orphans in Central America. The meeting has had a strong impact on his life. "I now feel encouraged to do something for people who are suffering from war," he says. (Madina Sadykova, 18)

Austria

Translating atomic bomb materials into German

In lieu of military service, Cezar Constantinescu (26) has been working at Peace Memorial Museum since January of this year as a "peace activity volunteer." He responds to inquiries in German and encourages other countries to join Mayors for Peace.

Cezar has personal experience of the difficulties of peace. When he was five years old, his family fled the dictatorship of Romania and resettled in Austria. He says, "I have two mother countries. But I couldn't fight for either one as a soldier." This remark illustrates his anti-war feelings.

"I would like to translate the website of Peace Memorial Museum into German so that more people can read it and know the damage the A-bomb caused," he added. It will be interesting to see what happens with Cezar in Hiroshima. (Aya Nakashige, 17)

Rwanda

The challenges of reconstruction

Willy Ndizeye, a staff member of the Ugandan Ministry of Home Affairs, told us "I want to learn about Hiroshima's miraculous reconstruction after World War II." He took part in a training program concerned with peace-building for post-conflict countries, which was organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He learned about post-conflict reconstruction in Hiroshima and elsewhere in Japan, and the administration of peace activities in Hiroshima with eight government officials from Uganda and Sierra Leone. Because of civil war in Rwanda, where his family is from, Willy grew up in neighboring Uganda as a refugee. When the war ended in 1994, he returned to Rwanda, but everything was destroyed and "we had to start again from zero, like Hiroshima."

After completing the training, he told us "I learned that local people must work together well in order to overcome the challenges of reconstruction. Not only as a civil servant, but also as a Rwandan, I'll try my best to help rebuild our society in Rwanda." He also appreciates this experience, saying "I was very encouraged by the people of Hiroshima. I hope you will continue sending messages of peace to post-conflict countries and regions." (Naru Nishida, 15)

Guatemala

Hope relieves the pain of conflict

Fernando Lopez (43) runs the okonomiyaki restaurant "LOPEZ" in Hiroshima. (Okonomiyaki is a local dish, a kind of crepe filled with meat and cabbage.)

Guatemala experienced a long civil war from 1960 to 1996. During this period, his friends and neighbors were killed by guerrillas and the police. He says "Hiroshima taught me what peace is for the first time in my life."

He married a Japanese woman from Hiroshima and he has lived in Japan for ten years. In the beginning, he didn't think anyone would be interested in Guatemala. However, this changed after he met some citizens of Hiroshima who have been working to support orphans in Central America. The meeting has had a strong impact on his life.

"I now feel encouraged to do something for people who are suffering from war," he says. (Madina Sadykova, 18)

Click to watch the interview with Fernando Lopez at his restaurant.

Learning and taking action

Through the results of our questionnaires and interviews, it's clear that Hiroshima has a special power that can move people towards peace. In fact, we were surprised that over 60% of the Japanese respondents indicated that their "interest in peace issues has been stimulated by living in Hiroshima." This percentage was higher than expected since we assumed the people of Hiroshima would take the city's impact for granted.

We also found that non-Japanese hope Japanese youth will "speak about Hiroshima to visitors from abroad or when these youth travel to other countries."

The younger generation of Hiroshima has an important responsibility. Although many of us have expressed interest in peace-related issues, it's also true that the number of youth actually engaged in peace activities is few. So we must investigate ways of getting more people involved. (Ryu Kanchika, 17)

Military service
Serving in the military, sometimes by law. If someone refuses to serve due to his or her beliefs, we call this person a "conscientious objector."
Peace activity volunteer
People who have declined to serve in the military work as volunteer staff for the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, which runs Peace Memorial Museum.
Dictatorship
A leader who holds all the power and rules the entire nation.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
JICA receives trainees from abroad and sends Japan Overseas Cooperative Volunteers to developing countries.

Through the eyes of other countriesHiroshima inspires peace

Through the eyes of other countries
Hiroshima inspires peace