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Peace Seeds: Teens in Hiroshima Sow Seeds of Peace (Part 49)

Learning about the atomic bombing with students on school trips

Autumn is the peak season for school trips in Japan. In Hiroshima, a lot of students can be seen, each day, in front of the Children’s Peace Monument and the Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims in the Peace Memorial Park.

More than 300,000 students from around the country visit Hiroshima annually on such school trips. What do they learn from the scars of the atomic bombing as they move through the city?

Junior writers from the Chugoku Shimbun toured the Peace Memorial Museum with junior high school students from outside of Hiroshima Prefecture and joined them in listening to the accounts of A-bomb survivors. Prior to visiting Hiroshima, they had learned a great deal about life during the war and the consequences wrought by the atomic bombing. The committed attitude of these young people from our generation made us, residents of Hiroshima, more aware of the importance of learning about peace. For this article, we also came up with some ideas for itineraries that could be followed by students on school trips.

Touring Peace Memorial Museum with students from Kano Junior High School

Third-year students from Kano Junior High School in the city of Gifu, in central Japan, spent three days in Hiroshima studying about peace and thinking about life. In groups, the 180 students visited buildings that survived the atomic bombing and the Radiation Effects Research Foundation before visiting monuments in the Peace Memorial Park.

The junior writers joined them when they toured the Peace Memorial Museum. The students from Gifu stopped to take in such artifacts as a charred tricycle, a blouse, and a photo of a victim with severe burns on his back. They lingered in front of each item, sharing their impressions.

Miyu Tange, 15, gazed intently at a boy’s tattered clothing. “Looking at the real artifacts made me think of the day the atomic bomb was dropped and the horrors of war,” she said. Takumi Obuchi, 15, said, “A single bomb destroyed people’s everyday lives and killed so many. We have to talk about how we can help abolish nuclear weapons.”

We heard that the students had carried out research on the damage caused by the atomic bombing and the city’s reconstruction as they prepared for their trip. They also watched TV programs involving the war and took part in group discussions. We were impressed by how they sought to learn about this subject at a deeper level and engage in lively exchanges.

Daisuke Kojima, 42, a teacher at the school, said, “Our students are living in a time of peace. I hope they can feel the pain of the A-bomb survivors, deep in their hearts, during their visit to Hiroshima and think about what they can do to help promote peace.”

We tend to take peace studies for granted, but the positive attitude of the students from Gifu was a source of inspiration for us. We now feel that we, too, need to be more mindful of learning about peace-related issues in Hiroshima. (Yoshiko Hirata, 16, Felix Walsh, 15, and Yui Morimoto, 13)

Listening to A-bomb account with students from Shakujii Minami Junior High School

At a Japanese-style hotel in front of the A-bomb Dome, 123 students from Shakujii Minami Junior High School, located in Tokyo, listened to Park Namjoo, 85, a South Korean native who is a permanent resident of Japan. We joined the students as they listened to the survivor’s account.

Ms. Park experienced the bombing while inside a streetcar about 1.9 kilometers from the hypocenter. With tears in her eyes, she told us how horrifying it was to witness the burnt ruins of the city and the fact that people were killed so indiscriminantly and inhumanely. She said that we must maintain the peace that has been built upon the sacrifices of so many.

Making the most of this precious opportunity to hear directly from a survivor of the bombing, the students focused keenly on taking notes. After listening to her story, they exchanging impressions of her account. By exercising their imagination, and etching this encounter in their memory, these students surely came to an understanding of the tragedy that occurred on that fateful day.

“My heart ached when I understood the feelings of the survivors, something I could never learn through research,” said Kosuke Tanaka, 14. Shocked by the fact that many students died in the Motoyasu River, Ayuri Hikasa, 14, said, “It came home to me that the atomic bomb was actually dropped here 72 years ago. Our ordinary lives are founded on the hardships Ms. Park and others went through.”

It was encouraging to find that junior high school students in other places have been studying and thinking about the atomic bombing. We have listened to the accounts of many A-bomb survivors. We believe that when students of our generation take in these A-bomb experiences from the survivors, we can learn important lessons for building a peaceful world. (Tokitsuna Kawagishi, 16, and Miki Meguro, 14)

Interview with city official about school trips

The junior writers interviewed Shoichiro Hara, 26, of the city’s Tourism Department about school trips to Hiroshima. According to the city’s statistics, the number of students visiting Hiroshima on school trips reached its peak at 570,000 in the late 1980s. Since then, the number has declined, and in 2015 the figure was 335,000. But there has been an uptick in the number of schools choosing Hiroshima as a destination for school trips, with more than 4,000 schools sending their students to the city each year.

The most popular itinerary includes touring the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum, escorted by volunteer guides, and listening to the accounts of A-bomb survivors. Also popular are visits in smaller groups to nearby museums at Honkawa Elementary School and Fukuromachi Elementary School. Other itineraries include experiences like reading aloud A-bomb experiences or riding a streetcar that endured the atomic bombing.

To encourage school trips to Hiroshima, the city has introduced plans that include sightseeing on the island of Miyajima or staying with local families on islands in the Seto Inland Sea. We hope more students will come to Hiroshima on school trips and spend time learning about how people once lived and then rebuilt their lives from the devastation of the atomic bomb. (Miki Meguro, 14)

New ideas for peace studies

The City of Hiroshima began to offer peace study programs in 2012 with the aim of bringing more students to the city. We interviewed Yumi Okazaki, 25, of the Outreach Division of the Peace Memorial Museum.

With the survivors advancing in age, the city has adopted a new approach to handing down their experiences to the next generation. Four different programs are offered to suit students from elementary school to high school. These programs are designed so that students will learn about the atomic bombing and current conditions involving nuclear weapons through the use of photos of artifacts held in the museum, videos of U.S. nuclear tests, and quizzes.

Students are shown a large poster of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, dubbed “Little Boy,” to convey its actual size. They can also touch roof tiles that were damaged in the bombing. The museum hopes that these ideas will encourage students to consider what they can do for the cause of peace. Personally, I felt that the contents of these programs can engage the interest of students and motivate them to learn about the atomic bombing and nuclear weapons.

During the last fiscal year, 74 sessions were held. Most were for local students, though; very few were for students on school trips. Ms. Okazaki said, “We’d like these programs to become more widely known. It’s important that we raise awareness of the damage caused by the atomic bomb to people who haven’t yet taken an interest in this subject.” (Naruho Matsuzaki, 17)

Junior writers’ impressions

The most important thing in peace studies is getting younger generations to think about what they can do to help realize a peaceful world. In the peace studies programs I covered, I found many creative ideas. For example, student can touch roof tiles that were damaged in the atomic bombing. And students are shown a life-size poster of the atomic bomb that was called “Little Boy.” Such programs are designed to grab the attention of the participants, encouraging them to think about the atomic bombing and nuclear weapons proactively instead of taking part in a passive way. I think ideas like this are innovative. But it’s too bad that not many people know about these programs. The A-bomb survivors are now getting old so I hope these programs will become better known not only in Hiroshima but also in and out of Japan, inspiring greater interest in the atomic bombing and nuclear weapons. (Naruho Matsuzaki)

I toured the Peace Memorial Museum with students from Kano Junior High School, located in Gifu. I was impressed by the fact that they stopped at each artifact and read the explanations carefully. I realized once again that students from other places are just as serious as we are about learning about peace. On the other hand, I’m afraid that many students in Hiroshima may be feeling that they’ve had enough peace studies. Like these students on school trips, students who live in Hiroshima should be visiting the Peace Memorial Park, too. (Miki Meguro)

It was my first time reporting on students coming to Hiroshima on school trips. Through my participation, I learned about the thoughts and feelings of people of my age who live outside of Hiroshima Prefecture. This was a good experience for me. (Yui Morimoto)

It was the first time I reported on students on school trips as they listened to an A-bomb survivor. The junior high schools from outside of Hiroshima Prefecture listened closely to this person. I was happy to see how serious they were about this. I will continue being committed to my work as a junior writer so that the people of our generation will have more opportunities to become familiar with the experiences of the A-bomb survivors and think more deeply about the atomic bombing and peace. (Tokitsuna Kawagishi)

What is Peace Seeds?
Peace Seeds are the seeds of smiles which can be spread around the world by thinking about peace and the preciousness of life from various viewpoints. To fill this world with flowering smiles, junior writers, from the first year of junior high school to the third year of senior high school, choose themes, gather information, and write articles.

(Originally published on October 19, 2017)

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