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Junior Writers Reporting

Kokutaiji Junior High School pays visits to A-bomb survivors in nursing homes

Kokutaiji Junior High School, located in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, has been involved in Junior Red Cross activities since 1952. Led by the student council, students of the school carry on the spirit of volunteerism by visiting nursing homes for A-bomb survivors, folding paper cranes, and engaging in fundraising efforts.

Twice a year, the students spend a week making paper cranes. Some of these cranes are offered at memorial services connected to the anniversary of the atomic bombing. Every summer, the students of the school take part in four memorial services for the A-bomb victims, organized at the elementary schools they attended and in the local community.

They also offer their paper cranes to the residents of Funairi Mutsumien, a nursing home for A-bomb survivors located in Naka Ward. The students sing songs and play games with the elderly residents and listen to their accounts of the atomic bombing.

Last fall, to show their support for those suffering from the earthquake and tsunami in eastern Japan, the students vowed that, as citizens of the A-bombed city, they would empathize with the people there and not listen to harmful rumor. The students learned that, as a result of the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, the people there have been hurt because of prejudice stemming from radiation fears.

Yudai Imai, 14, the head of the student council, said, “We want to do what we can to end prejudice and make the world a fair place for everyone.” (Ren Nonaka, 17, writer and photographer)

(Originally published on June 18, 2012)

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