The second team of the World Hiroshima Peace Mission (sponsored by the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation) traveled through China and South Korea for twenty days beginning in late-June. These neighboring countries, with which Japan has such close relations in business and pop culture, take harsh positions with regard to Japan's responsibility for the war. To what extent did the message from Hiroshima win or fail to win sympathy for its understanding of the atomic bombing itself and the possession of nuclear weapons? We start with a report on China. (Text by Masami Nishimoto, Photos by Hajime Araki)

The day after the Peace Mission flew from Hiroshima to Beijing they met with the Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament (CPAPD). The meeting took place about 20 minutes by car from Tiananmen Square. They were met by Secretary General Niu Qiang (50), who began immediately speaking passionately about a very different understanding of history.

-An hour of intense explication

"The Chinese people sympathize with those who suffered from the bombing, but the Japanese people see themselves as victims because they encountered the A-bomb. They need to understand it properly in connection with the war that they caused." The mission was unable to hide their discomfort with the immediate and extended argument.

Can we hold an A-bomb exhibition in China? Before departing, the second team inquired about this possibility at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo. An expert on Japan-China relations said, "It will be seen as Japan proselytizing its victimization in the war, so it will be refused." The answer of the Embassy as a remark of the Economic Affairs Department was, "There is no precedent." With Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visiting Yasukuni Shrine, leading to the cancellation of the reciprocal visit, the current political situation may well have had something to do with it.

With governmental negotiations over the visit to China in trouble, the mission was nevertheless received by CPAPD, which was founded in 1985. They participated in the World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs held by Gensuikyo, and they have continued to interact with the city of Hiroshima. Until now, they have usually been regarded a "grassroots peace group."

When the Mission members entered the CPAPD's building, they noticed a sign on the grounds that said, "the External Affairs Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China". The CPAPD is an international department intimately related to the central Communist Party that one-party-rules China. Yet, they accommodated the Mission's requests for visits and interviews.

The intense statement by Secretary General Qiang continued for nearly an hour. When the Mission members finally got a chance to speak, they spoke as if floating up from where they were just quietly sinking into the sofa.

Kazuo Fukushima (72), who was exposed to the A-bomb at 13 and lost six members of his family, showed his frustration when he said, "We came in hopes that you would understand the cruelty of the atomic bomb." Haruko Inoshita (72), who has worked long and hard to help hibakusha in Korea, raised her voice to say, "The dropping of the atomic bomb did not signal the end of the war so much as the start of the nuclear age."

-Beyond public positions

Shota Moriue (20), who is studying international relations at Tokyo University, asked, "How do you view the threat of nuclear weapons?" Xunfei Yue (32), who is from Nei, the Mongol Autonomous Territory of China and is in the Graduate School of Letters, Hiroshima University, spoke as a member of the mission and, in place of the interpreter for the CPAPD communicated the opinions of the mission members.

Perhaps stimulated by the informal statements, the others in attendance for the CPAPD spoke from their hearts, not stopping at public speech. Their message: "Peace is the common desire of the Chinese and the Japanese people."

"Japan can learn from its past and we can learn to understand each other." "China's nuclear weapons are for the purpose of defending its people, completely different from the US."

The participants talked past each other. There was an especially large schism regarding the dropping of the A-bomb that began our problem with nuclear weapons.

Secretary General Qiang, who majored in political science in England, said with a wry smile, "This has been an unusually frank discussion," then, "It's time for dinner," and he led the group to a Szechuan restaurant.

"Can't we do an A-bomb exhibition?"

"We cannot separate it from the problem of history." The energetic debate continued. By the time they left the restaurant, the two groups had been together for six hours.

The members of the second team of the Hiroshima World Peace Mission are as follows: Hibakusha Kazuo Fukushima (72) living in Saeki-ku, Hiroshima City; a calligrapher Haruko Inoshita (72) living in Minami-ku, Hiroshima City; a student at the Graduate School of Letters, Hiroshima University, Xunfei Yue (32) living in Higashi-Hiroshima City; a junior at Tokyo University Shota Moriue (20) from Hatsukaichi City; former head of the Association of A-bomb victims in Korea, Kifun Kwaku (80) from Seongnam City joined the mission in Korea.

(Caption)Fukushima (left) receiving a calligraphy commemorating the visit from Secretary General Qiang (center), with interpreter Yue (right). It said, "History is a mirror with which to examine the future." This visit will reveal the meaning of that statement.