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Hiroshima high school students appeal for nuclear abolition at youth forum at U.N. headquarters in New York

(by Junji Akechi, Staff Writer)

NEW YORK—On May 2, a youth forum was held at United Nations headquarters in New York, where the third session of the Preparatory Committee for next year’s Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference is taking place. At this event, which was organized by Mayors for Peace (chaired by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui), high school students from Hiroshima, the A-bombed city, delivered presentations about their efforts to help advance the abolition of nuclear weapons. The audience included, among others, members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who are taking part in the Preparatory Committee session.

Eight students from Hiroshima Jogakuin High School and Shudo High School, both located in Naka Ward, Hiroshima, and Eishin High School in the city of Fukuyama, reported on their activities at each school. They spoke in English about their efforts to conduct detailed interviews with A-bomb survivors about the conditions of the atomic bombing by making use of black-and-white photographs that were taken before the war and then colored through artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and a signature campaign to promote nuclear abolition. They appealed for the elimination of nuclear arms by saying that younger generations have a responsibility to hand down the memories and wishes of the A-bomb survivors to future generations, and called on people to visit Hiroshima to gain a deeper understanding of the damages that were wrought by the atomic bombing.

Based on her experience taking part in the signature drive, Tomoka Sakami, a 15-year-old first-year student at Eishin High School, said, “The vast majority of people show no interest at all in the issue of nuclear abolition, apart from whether or not they support this goal.” She added, “It’s important to pursue an educational approach at schools that can raise awareness of the problem of nuclear weapons.”

University students from Nagasaki, and young people from the United States and Germany, also shared their peace activities. In response to the presentations, one member of the audience voiced the view that there are high expectations for such efforts by young people, saying that the citizens of Japan and Germany, nations that rely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, have a special role to play in changing the policies of their government in order to realize the goal of abolishing nuclear weapons.

(Originally published on May 4, 2019)

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