Peace Games

An enjoyable way to learn about peace

Click to watch a game of "The Giant Fish."

Under their teacher's guidance, the International Club at Hiroshima Nagisa Junior High and High School have created a game called "The Giant Fish." The game is set in Central Africa, around Lake Victoria. Through this game we can learn about poverty and understand how this problem is connected to our life in Japan.

Four of our junior writers took part in this game with three members of the International Club. As the game went on, the gap between rich and poor grew large and, as a result, some participants wound up broke and had to drop out.

At the end of the game, the participants learn that a large fish called the Nile Perch is imported to Japan. The game, then, is a reflection of reality and the food we eat in Japan is linked to life in far-off Africa. One of the junior writers remarked, "It made me sad that, despite working hard, I couldn't earn much money. It's unfair that some people do nothing and yet grow rich."

The leader of the International Club, Takahiro Okamoto, 17, explained that the inspiration for this game was a documentary film, "Darwin's Nightmare," they watched in 2006. He was shocked to learn there were people too poor to buy food and so they ate the bit of fish meat still on the discarded bones of the Nile Perch when it was prepared for export.

Members of the International Club discovered that one of the countries which imports the Nile Perch is Japan and it is served as fried whitefish in restaurants and cafeterias. The club even bought real Nile Perch and tried eating it.

With the goal of sharing these facts with others, they came up with a card game that would enable participants to understand the local people's life. The game was completed and demonstrated in January 2008. The club has organized workshops using the game at Hiroshima Jogakuin High School, too.

As a member of the International Club, I took part in creating this game. I hope people who play it will become more aware of the connections between the food we eat and the gap between rich and poor as well as consider what we could do to help solve the problem. (Minako Iwata, 15)

‹Description›The game needs at least five players. Each person takes the role of one entire family living near Lake Victoria. (The size of each family is noted in the cards distributed to the players.) They make their living by fishing for Mozambique Tilapia, but when Nile Perch are introduced into the lake, the boss of the fishermen and the owner of a fish processing factory become the two wealthiest players. At this point, the others must make a choice as to whether they will continue fishing for themselves or work for the boss or the factory. Depending on the roll of a die, the players may fall ill or become unemployed. As a result, the gap between rich and poor grows and society faces unstable conditions.

©Nobel Web 2008

The Nobel Prize Organization has offered "The Peace Dove Game" since June 2003. Through this quiz, participants can learn about eight countries which possess nuclear weapons.

Some questions ask for the name of one of the countries, such as "Which country is the fourth largest nuclear weapons holder in the world and borders three other states possessing nuclear weapons?" Knowledge is also shared through conversations among doves, saying such things as "The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 forbids the stationing or possession of nuclear weapons in a spacecraft orbiting the Earth."

Each sentence is fairly short and understandable, even for non-native speakers.

Visitors to the website can also read about the achievements of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in connection with nuclear weapons. Karin Svanholm, in charge of the site's content, commented, "Our role is to disseminate the work of the Nobel Prize Laureates. As our previous educational games became popular, we decided to create a game related to nuclear disarmament." (Kotaro Tsuchida, 15)

‹Description›Free online game that teaches about the history and current state of nuclear weapons possession in the world through a quiz. Questions are asked about countries that possess nuclear weapons. Eight doves in a spaceship fly to the countries that appear in the answers and complete a "nuclear disarmament mission." The game is only in English and was made for those 15 or older. After the game ends, the number of nuclear weapons held by each country (as of 2003) is displayed.nobelprize.org/educational_games/peace/nuclear_weapons/

TICO, a non-profit organization in Yoshinogawa City, Tokushima Prefecture, has created a mock trial game to convey the true state of aid to Africa. The game proceeds as a dispute between the people who provide aid and the local people who receive that support.

Both sides are given information about the scope of this aid and the resources of the local people and the participants base their arguments on this information.

For example, in a case involving a donated drainage pump, which the local people sold without permission, the donors claimed "that pump was for everyone." The local people, though, countered, "The pump was useless because of drought. We needed the money to buy food."

Osamu Yoshida, 50, a representative of TICO, told us, "If you take the positions of the people involved, you can understand the situation more deeply. I hope this game provides participants with a chance to recognize the difficulties of international aid and enable them to deliver aid more effectively." (Moeko Takagi, 14)

‹Description›Participants learn about aid work in Africa by playing the roles of people in an aid organization and the local people who receive that aid. Topics of these disputes come from real cases that TICO has experienced through its agricultural and medical projects in the world, such as in Zambia. The game is designed for older elementary students and above with five to seven participants taking the roles of accuser, defendant, and judge. The two sides state their arguments and, in the end, the judge makes a decision on the case. Each case lasts about 20 minutes.

Picture from the WFP website

An online game from the World Food Program (WFP), called "FOOD FORCE," provides a virtual experience of providing food aid. The game can be easily played on a computer at home or at school.

Of the six missions, I found the most engaging one involves dropping food from an airplane. Despite quick changes in the blowing wind, the food must be dropped accurately to land in specific spots. From this game, I could appreciate the difficulty of such missions for the people in charge.

There are several obstacles to delivering food as well, such as ridding the ground of landmines and repairing bridges, which require the help of many people.

According to Yuko Yasuda, 34, the public information officer for the WFP office in Japan, one child under the age of five dies every six seconds in the world. She explains that children in developed countries have a hard time imagining what starvation is like and so the game was created to raise their awareness of starvation and food aid.

The English version of the game was completed in April 2005 and it now has 15 language versions. It is estimated that more than 10 million people have played the game as of June 2008 by downloading it or using the distributed CD. The Japanese version was made in October 2005. (Miyu Sakata, 13)

‹Description›The game can be downloaded from the WFP website and provides a virtual experience of delivering food aid. Set in a virtual island in the Indian Ocean called Sheylan, six missions await, such as taking a survey of people who need air drops of food, combining ingredients to make a nutritious food pack within budget limits, dropping food from an airplane, and procuring food aid for six months from countries in the world. Scores are calculated based on time and accuracy.

This aim of this game is to spot actions that violate the Geneva Conventions, which sets rules for war. The Japan Red Cross Society created the game for children in 1999 so they would think about the morality of human beings and realize that there are rules we still must obey even in extreme circumstances.

A civil organization, Global Civilians Kyoikujuku Hiroshima, uses the game in their workshops and the junior writers took part at one of these sessions.

A game about "humanity" might sound difficult, but the rules it presents are very reasonable, such as "don't steal the assets of others" and "don't attack medical care facilities," so it was easy to participate.

Koichi Wakitani, 49, a member of Kyoikujuku and the leader of our workshop, told us, "If everyone thought seriously about what we shouldn't do as human beings, we could end war." (Rika Shirakawa, 12)

‹Description›The game involves studying a picture of a battlefield and reflecting on international humanitarian law as set by the Geneva Conventions. Created by the Japan Red Cross Society for peace education in schools, the game consists of 12 pictures, each depicting an action in war, such as attacking a private residence, putting poison into a well, forcing POWs to work without food, transporting the injured, and distributing aid. Participants must judge whether each action conforms to the Geneva Conventions or not. First, each person considers a personal response, then the situations are discussed in groups, and finally the groups present their answers.