What is Peace? Survey on August 6

Hiroshima just observed the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing. On this day, August 6, we conducted a survey on various aspects of peace with 134 people who visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. We found that many people feel "peace" in their daily life when they spend time with family and friends. In terms of assigning a percentage to describe the state of peace in the world, the average percentage was 44.6%. This figure is a long way from the goal of 100%. Many of these people depicted "peace" in words or images reflecting "love" and "smile."

We also interviewed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 66, the first UN secretary general in history to attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima. In expressing "peace," Mr. Ban wrote in Japanese: "To realize a world without nuclear weapons." In addition, he called for children to become "world citizens" with a wide perspective.

The largest number of people, 32, used the term "love." Many people, irrespective of nationality, drew hearts. One person wrote "love and peace" inside a heart to emphasize peace, while another wrote "Let's send a lot of love to everyone's hearts" along with the image of a heart.

The second most popular answer, "smile," was offered by 30 people. There were many pictures of smiling faces and smiling families and smiling people in the world, hand in hand. A junior high school student from Hiroshima wrote in large letters: "Smiles are best."

After "smile," the answer "earth" was given by 8 people.

We noticed that people from overseas often drew images of nature, such as the sea, lakes, and forests. We were impressed by these drawings and pondered why they made such images.

I was in agreement with two messages, in particular: "Even if one person in the world isn't peaceful, we can't have peace" (a university student in the city of Sendai) and "Peace is when the world is safe for everyone" (a high school student from Hiroshima). (Akane Murashige, 17)

love 32	smile 30	Click to view junior writers at work.
		earth 8	others

The key words that appeared in the responses to this question from the survey are "family" and "friends."

The largest number of people, 30, answered that they feel most peaceful when they are with their families. Some examples of this include: "When I'm eating meals at home in a relaxed mood"; "When I'm chatting with family members"; and "When everyone in my family is together in the morning." For many people, having the whole family in good health with smiles on their faces evokes an image of peace.

The second largest number of people, 14, chose "friends." Examples include: "When I'm with my friends"; When I'm playing with my friends"; "When I'm talking with friends"; and "When I'm laughing with friends." Two junior high students from the United States responded: "When I'm communicating with friends through Facebook."

Nine people used both key words in their answers, such as "When I'm with family or friends." On the other hand, some people responded: "I seldom feel peace in my daily life." (Shiori Kusuo, 17)

The average percentage describing the state of "world peace" today is 44.6%. Since Japan is basically at peace, I expected that the average would be greater than 50%. Therefore, I was a bit surprised to find that many people think the world today is far from peaceful.

The highest percentage, among all the respondents, was 90%. This was suggested by two people. How can the percentage be brought up to 100%? A fourth grade student at an elementary school in Hiroshima said, "Don't fight with others." A teacher from Spain, 35, answered, "Help people in need and talk together instead of fighting and making war."

On the other hand, two people gave a response of 0%. An office worker from Fukuyama, 42, explained, "Because some wars are still being fought." A university student from Hiroshima said, "There are too many people working only for their own interest."

Many people expressed the idea that peace means eradicating war and abolishing nuclear weapons. Some also called for an effort to eliminate "the gap between rich and poor" and "poverty."

One person pointed out that about 30,000 people a year commit suicide in Japan. I was surprised at this figure because I wasn't aware that so many people were turning to suicide. A society where a lot of people are committing suicide is not a place at peace, I think. (Reika Konno, 16)