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8 young people from member cities of Mayors for Peace learn about atomic bombing

by Shinji Morito, Staff Writer

Eight young people from six cities in six nations, including the United States and France, are now in Hiroshima to learn about nuclear issues and peace building. They have come from member cities of Mayors for Peace (for which Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui serves as president) as participants in a program undertaken by Mayors for Peace from this fiscal year to help promote youth exchanges in the A-bombed city. The organization hopes that the participants of the program will make use of their learning in Hiroshima in their efforts to help advance the abolition of nuclear arms after they return home.

The participants are young men and woman, university students and working people, who range in age from 19 to 33. They are enrolled in the summer intensive course “Hiroshima and Peace” at Hiroshima City University, in Asaminami Ward, from August 2 to 10.

On August 4, they listened to a lecture by Brien Hallett, 72, a professor from the Matsunaga Institute for Peace at the University of Hawaii. Professor Hallett is one of the lecturers for the course. Based on an analysis of casualty figures for World War II in the United States and Japan, he told the students that the belief that “the atomic bomb ended the war and saved many lives” is mistaken.

After the lecture, Saira Chambers, 33, a U.S. resident of Chicago, said, “My grandparents also believe that the use of the atomic bombs was justified because of the number of lives it saved. It is important that everyone is educated to know the truth.”

At the Peace Memorial Museum, the eight participants then each shared the peace activities that they will pursue after returning home. The unique training program devised by Mayors for Peace includes introducing ideas like holding A-bomb exhibitions and sharing the A-bomb accounts of survivors.

This fiscal year, Mayors for Peace is also planning to hold an exchange program for young people from its members cities in Japan.

(Originally published on August 5, 2016)

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