Building a new peace museum

Learning about peace with all five senses

Introducing NGOs, encouraging action

Explaining how to locate a suitable peace-related organization. (photo by Hayato Yoshioka, 15)

Another feature of the museum would be a section that introduces NGOs from around the world and encourages people to become involved in peace-related activities.

Information about these NGOs is stored in a database, creating a global network of groups. By searching with such data as age, field, language skill, and location, suitable organizations can be found.

For each NGO, there would be a description of their work and a message from a representative of that group as well as photos and videos that demonstrate their activities. In addition, people who have some experience of the group could share their feedback to help others properly assess it.

Perhaps a videophone system would even enable visitors to contact a representative of the group directly to get more information.

(Naru Nishida, 16)

Click to view the discussion of our proposals.

We would also establish a program to train "Peace Writers", young journalists who deliver peace-related news.

Anyone under 20 years old who can speak Japanese, including non-Japanese, could apply. Trainers for the program might be staff members of NGOs or the United Nations as well as professional journalists and photographers. And staff members from other peace museums could teach our young journalists about the history of conflicts.

These "Peace Writers" first learn the basics of writing articles and taking photos. At the same time, they are escorted to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Okinawa to deepen their understanding of these places. And, to heighten their awareness of peace issues, they interview A-bomb survivors, people who have experienced war, and others who are engaged in peace activities.

After completing a one-year program, they choose their own topic of interest and write articles addressing it. These articles are then combined in a booklet which would be displayed at the museum and distributed to schools throughout Japan.

Outstanding trainees may have the opportunity to work directly with the museum and with the professionals who helped train them. They would be compensated for this work and their articles would receive support towards publication. (Yuki Sakata, 13)

Within the museum is an auditorium for peace culture events. In addition to regular events, an annual "International Peace Culture Festival" would be organized with a week of performances, screenings, and exhibitions.

Participants could come from people, both local and international, recommended by peace museums. They would take part in three general areas of the arts: music and theater, fine art and literature, and film and animation. These activities might also be shared with the world through the internet.

A symposium would also foster interaction among the participants and visitors. By building relationships that transcend artistic mediums and national borders, we could promote the power of the art world for peace.

Students might also be able to take part in the festival by being selected through preliminary showcases. Their works would be based on the theme of Hiroshima and one group from each of the three artistic categories would be invited to participate. This system might help motivate the activities of Hiroshima youth. (Ryu Kanchika, 17)

We could establish a "Peace Museum Award"h for outstanding peace-related activities and ideas that aim to bring about a more peaceful world.

Awards would be divided into two categories: an "Activity Award" for individuals and groups and an "Idea Award" for inspiring ideas. The call for applications would be put out to the world and a panel of experts would make the selections. We hope it would one day become an influential award, like the Nobel Prize.

For the "Activity Award", public interest in the activity would be one of the criteria while the "Idea Award"h should probably be presented to a group that also intends to try bringing their idea to life.

Winners of these awards would be given a grant to support their work for one year and would be promoted widely through the internet. We would also offer them some space at the museum, at no cost, to help facilitate their plans. (Haruna Tanabe, 17)

World conditions would be presented on a large screen.

One room will be devoted to displaying images and information concerning conflicts and poverty in the world.

The room would look similar to a planetarium with large walls, a rounded ceiling, and a wide screen. On a panel is a map of the world and when you touch a country, images and information related to that nation would be projected onto the screen. For example, by touching Iraq, the countries that have dispatched troops to that conflict would appear in color. Because long paragraphs of text are more difficult for children to understand, the information should be presented, as much as possible, in images and videos.

Visitors would also have the opportunity to watch interviews with citizens from these countries to hear voices that come directly from the local people.

The system offers information through quizzes, too. For instance, through a quiz we might learn the military expenditure of each country and how people could be helped by that money if it were used differently. (Kotaro Tsuchida, 14)

There would also be a section offering information about other "peace museums" in the world. In cooperation with the staff of these museums, they could introduce their work through displays at our museum so our visitors might learn about the many museums in the world dedicated to peace.

If possible, these displays would include a "virtual exhibition" of each museum. By wearing special glasses, visitors could feel that they are entering the real museum. And, by clicking a button, it would be possible to magnify an item inside this "virtual exhibition" in order to take a closer look.

This kind of "virtual exhibition" would likely stimulate the interest of visitors in these museums and encourage them to visit the real museums one day in the future.

In addition, we could organize events in conjunction with the staff and visitors from other museums. For example, through a video link with a museum in Germany or in Vietnam, we might discuss experiences at the Auschwitz concentration camp or the use of defoliant during the Vietnam War. (Shiori Kosaka, 12)

Experience the past

Feeling the impact of the atomic bomb

Children watch a piece of slate being heated to a high temperature.

This section of the museum would enable visitors to grasp the violence of the atomic bomb with all of their senses. Three horrifying effects of the bomb, experienced in Hiroshima in 1945, could be authentically reproduced.

The first effect is the extraordinary blast. A machine would be designed that can generate a high wind which matches the top speed of the wind caused by the blast of the atomic bomb. By aiming this wind through a pane of glass placed in front of a concrete wall, the explosion of the glass and the glass fragments sticking into the wall could convey the extraordinary power of the blast.

The second effect is the intense heat. By heating a piece of slate with a powerful gas burner, we could produce the kind of "bombed slate" that resulted from the actual bombing. Since it takes about three minutes at 2500 degrees Celsius to form bubbles on the surface of the slate, this experiment would stir the visitors to imagine the impact to human beings when exposed to such tremendous heat.

And the third effect is the "black rain" which fell shortly after the bomb exploded. The real black rain was highly radioactive, but it might be possible to reproduce the basic experience of the ominous black rain inside an experimental room. Visitors wearing raincoats would watch the black rain falling in front of them on a large screen and, at the same time, drops of sticky, black water would fall from the ceiling and wet their raincoats. This experience may help people to imagine the horror of the victims in 1945. ( Masahiro Mikoshi, 14)

Click to view the experiment that produced a "bombed slate".

A "time tunnel" traces the city's reconstruction

In a "time tunnel," visitors can learn about the reconstruction of Hiroshima after the war. Displays of historical scenes would show each stage of this period of reconstruction, up to the present.

For example, visitors could board a tram and ride through a recreation that depicts the ruins of the city after the bombing, with people (mannequins) building temporary shelters. And inside the gates to a school, a so-called "blue sky class" is being held outside since the school buildings were destroyed.

Farther along is the sight of the Peace Restoration Festival (the present-day Peace Memorial Ceremony) and visitors can listen in to the speakers and others in attendance. The experience of this "time tunnel" would promote a deeper understanding of the thoughts and feelings of the people who were responsible for rebuilding the city. (Rikako Okada, 16, and Minako Iwata, 14)

Click to watch the junior writers present their "virtual experience of the bombing".

A virtual experience of the bombing

This feature of the museum is a 3D movie that depicts the city during the bombing.

A specific story can be chosen such as "a junior high school student who stayed with her younger sister at a first-aid station when the sister died" or "an elementary school student who wandered through a burnt field searching for his family". A group of students visiting the museum on a school trip could watch one story together.

These stories could be either true or fictional accounts and the actors would be selected through audition. The stories would be filmed, as much as possible, from the point-of-view of the main character.

By filming from this point-of-view, the audience will experience the story through the eyes of the character and can then comprehend the bombing more clearly. (Chinatsu Kawamoto, 15)

Peace database

The website of the Peace Museum can also be used to search for peace-related information. There are three useful features for study and research.

First, it enables people to search for images, articles, and references related to peace. We would ask media outlets to offer free access to these resources.

The second feature is networking. The database would contain a list of experts on the atomic bomb and they could be contacted for lectures at schools and other activities.

And the third feature is a navigation function for those who wish to visit buildings and monuments linked to the A-bomb. With access from cell phones, it would provide addresses, explanations, and related information so people could plan a tour of these sites and locate them easily. (Shoko Tagaya, 17)

Visiting the Kyoto Museum for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University

To research these ideas for a new peace-related museum, we went to Kyoto to visit the Kyoto Museum for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University.

After entering, a film presents life in Japan during World War II. In the background, the soft sound of a music box could be heard. As we watched the film, we were transported by the exhibit and felt as though we had lived in that era.

The museum offers a variety of interesting exhibits that are intended to encourage people to think.

For example, in front of a piece of pottery is a label with the question, "Was this a vase?" But actually, it was a grenade made of clay because there wasn't enough metal to construct the weapon. In another exhibit, which displays a watch that had been treasured by a girl who lived and died in a Palestinian refugee camp, the question asks, "What did the watch see?" These kinds of questions prompt the visitor to think about these items in a more profound way.

Other useful ideas included explanations in simple sentences, easy for children to understand, and a viewing area where visitors can sit and watch videos. (Aya Nakashige, 18)

Mr. Anzai sharing his thoughts on peace. (photo by Shiori Kosaka, 12)

Interview with Ikuro Anzai

We interviewed the Director of the Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ikuro Anzai.

Mr. Anzai is an expert in the field of atomic energy and his research into radiation convinced him that nuclear weapons should be abolished. As a result, he became active in the movement for nuclear disarmament and then assumed the role of Museum Director in 1995.

Regarding the concept of "peace," he stresses that peace is more than "a state without war"-as many people in Japan believe. In fact, a world at peace is "a world where all human beings are free from violence and enjoy the chance to fulfill the potential for their lives."

To realize such a world, we need to raise our awareness of conflicts, investigate their causes, contemplate solutions, and encourage people to play a part in resolving this violence.

Towards this end, Mr. Anzai is eager for people to visit the museum and become more familiar with peace-related issues. He also mentioned that peace museums would be wise not to present every cruel fact of war, just because they're facts. By doing so, visitors may think pessimistically of human beings. The exhibits must therefore maintain a certain balance of hope and empower people to believe that they can have a positive impact on these issues after they leave the museum.

In our interview, Mr. Anzai showed us a magic trick to emphasize his belief that "We mustn't judge the whole of something based on only the part that's visible to us. We must imagine what may lay hidden on the sides that we cannot see." (Yutaro Honkawa, 17)

• The site of Hiroshima Baseball Stadium

  The city of Hiroshima will construct a new baseball stadium, to be completed by the spring of 2009. As a result, the site of the present stadium will be used for a new purpose, such as a facility to preserve the vast numbers of paper cranes that arrive in Hiroshima every year.

• Bombed slates

  Roof tiles that were scorched by the heat of the atomic bomb. The surface of these tiles bubbled from the high temperature. Even today, old slates are sometimes found in the river near the hypocenter.

• Blue sky class

  Many school buildings in Hiroshima were damaged or destroyed in the bombing. Because of this, classes had to be held outside on the school grounds with the students sitting on mats.

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