Junior Writers Reporting: Debates at summit also involve us — Learning more about G7 Hiroshima Summit
Feb. 6, 2023
Before the summit meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven industrialized nations) held in Hiroshima in May, the city is convening events to enhance momentum for the summit and posted signs around the city to promote the event. News related to the summit in the newspaper and on television has become increasingly common. The international conference, at which G7 leaders will engage in discussions, is not something totally removed from the lives of local citizens. The Chugoku Shimbun’s junior writers looked into the summit meetings that have been held in Japan to this point, as well as carried out an interview with a government official in Hiroshima busy preparing for the summit about the role the summit will play and how the event relates to all of us.
Interview with Yosuke Morioka, department chief, Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit: Overseas, people also paying close attention to Hiroshima’s ability to communicate peace message
Junior writers visited the secretariat office of the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit. The organization is located in the building of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. At its entrance are displayed posters promoting the summit and flyers for tourism spots in Hiroshima Prefecture. We met with Yosuke Morioka, chief of the Peace and Youth Engagement Promotion Department of the Citizens Council and asked him questions related to the summit.
What is the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit all about?
It is a joint public- and private–sector endeavor, consisting of summit-related organizations in many fields, such as the prefectural government, the city government, the local business community, and universities. It was founded in July of last year. About 70 staff members, dispatched from the prefectural and city governments as well as private-sector corporations, currently work at the organization.
The Council’s initiatives are based on five pillars: Support for holding of the summit, Hospitality, Communication of peace information, Conveying of Hiroshima’s appeal, and Promotion of youth participation in anticipation of post-summit activities.
We believe it is crucial to take an “All-Hiroshima” approach that includes the public for welcoming summit guests to Hiroshima and encouraging citizen engagement in the summit. We have also posted information on our website and Twitter account so that our efforts are understood by as many people as possible.
Why do you think the decision was made to hold the summit in Hiroshima?
Hiroshima has the ability to deliver a message concerning its recovery from the damage wrought by the world’s first atomic bombing in wartime. Hiroshima was selected as the summit venue amid Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons following its invasion of Ukraine. I believe the selection was indicative of Hiroshima’s potential for communicating its message. I hope the G7 leaders will grow aware of the preciousness of peace, and be able to send out a powerful message with that in mind.
We hope the leaders tour the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and listen to testimonies from A-bomb survivors. Do you think our expectations will be realized?
In October last year, the Citizens Council submitted a request to Japan’s national government and demanded that the summit host such events as a tour of the museum and dialogue with A-bomb survivors, as well as communicate a message of peace, as a way to guarantee that survivors’ experiences and their wishes for peace can be shared with the G7 leaders.
For young people, the summit will provide an opportunity to gain interest in international affairs and a better understanding of such issues. We have also requested that the national government help provide support for young people to promote active participation in summit-related events.
How are young people in Hiroshima engaged in your activities?
Students at Motomachi High School, for example, designed the official logo for the Citizens Council featuring a dove and pieces of colorful origami paper. The logo is being used in flyers for the events hosted by our organization. Hiroshima Summit countdown-boards are now set up at the Hiroshima Bus Center, in the city’s centrally located Naka Ward, among other places. The boards are being made by local high school students throughout the prefecture.
Since January, we have been holding after-school educational activities for the summit at junior- and senior-high schools in the prefecture. That activity consists of hosting officials from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who explain the summit’s history and significance. In March, we will hold the G7 Hiroshima Summit Junior Conference in Hiroshima, in which high school students will engage in discussions ahead of the summit. Students from inside the prefecture and from six overseas nations are scheduled to debate such topics as peace and multi-culturalism in English. We are also planning a number of other programs.
Do you have programs that encourage participation of people over a wide age range?
Our Smile for Peace Project does not have an age limit. Anybody can join. In that project, we are collecting photographs of people holding up paper signs with a welcome message for the leaders of each country or with their thoughts about peace. We plan on combining the photos and creating from them a photo collage, which will be displayed at summit events and carried in the newspaper. We encourage people to casually submit photos taken with their family and friends.
Regarding the summit, what are points that young people should pay attention to specifically?
Because people overseas have shown intense interest in the summit held in the A-bombed city, media from some nations, such as Austria and Hungary, have already come to Hiroshima and reported on stories about local high school students working on peace initiatives. During the summit period, a large number of media representatives from Japan and overseas will report on the outcomes of summit deliberations and about general information related to Hiroshima. By accessing such news coverage, people should come to a better understanding of the summit. Please keep a close eye on such reporting.
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Hiroshima Prefectural Library has established special area featuring summit information with 1,000 publications in 18 genres
For those who want to know more about the G7 summit, we recommend visiting the Hiroshima Prefectural Library, located in the city’s Naka Ward. A new, special area featuring publications related to the summit has been established inside the library.
The new summit area is located immediately to the right of the library’s entrance. Two shelves have been set aside and carry a total of 1,000 publication titles. The area is classified into three main categories: Gaining a deeper understanding of countries participating in the summit participants; Learning about global challenges; and Communicating to the world information about the summit venue of Hiroshima.
Guided by Yoshimasa Toyota, the library’s director, and Sayuri Shoi, deputy director, we junior reporters got a glimpse of the new area. The staff have organized the huge number of publications into 18 different genres, including those concerning the nations participating in the G7 summit, the world economy, and gender. Labels identifying each genre have been placed on the ‘spine’ of the publications to allow users to, at a glance, quickly understand the general content of the publication. For example, national flag labels are used for publications concerning each participating country’s history or culture, and a label with a polar bear is used for publications on climate change.
Since the summit’s agenda has not been formally announced, the staff selected publications for the corner by referring to the agendas discussed at past summit meetings. Five-hundred publications, about half of the 1,000 total, were purchased specifically for the new area. Ms. Shoi said, “We worked hard to select the publications we thought might be useful for our users to learn more about the summit.”
Mr. Toyota said with pride, “We have placed in the area children’s and picture books containing many images and photos to encourage children to pick up them up and take a look.” The area will be open and available to the public through August 20. Even before the summit, we hope to take advantage of the space to study the issues facing the world.
The G7 Hiroshima Summit will also be attended by nuclear nations, specifically France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Some of the other participating nations, including Japan, contend that U.S. nuclear weapons are necessary for their national security. In the next “Junior Writers Reporting” article, scheduled for March, we will examine and report on the situation in each nation.
The above article was written by the following junior writers:
Hitoha Katsura, 18; Yuna Okajima, 18; Shunki Yamahiro, 16; Shino Taguchi, 16; Chihiro Yamase, 16; Meika Kawamoto,14; Natsuki Yamashiro, 14; Gaku Kawanabe, 13; and Mai Nishitani, 13.
(Originally published on February 6, 2023)
Interview with Yosuke Morioka, department chief, Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit: Overseas, people also paying close attention to Hiroshima’s ability to communicate peace message
Junior writers visited the secretariat office of the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit. The organization is located in the building of the Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. At its entrance are displayed posters promoting the summit and flyers for tourism spots in Hiroshima Prefecture. We met with Yosuke Morioka, chief of the Peace and Youth Engagement Promotion Department of the Citizens Council and asked him questions related to the summit.
What is the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit all about?
It is a joint public- and private–sector endeavor, consisting of summit-related organizations in many fields, such as the prefectural government, the city government, the local business community, and universities. It was founded in July of last year. About 70 staff members, dispatched from the prefectural and city governments as well as private-sector corporations, currently work at the organization.
The Council’s initiatives are based on five pillars: Support for holding of the summit, Hospitality, Communication of peace information, Conveying of Hiroshima’s appeal, and Promotion of youth participation in anticipation of post-summit activities.
We believe it is crucial to take an “All-Hiroshima” approach that includes the public for welcoming summit guests to Hiroshima and encouraging citizen engagement in the summit. We have also posted information on our website and Twitter account so that our efforts are understood by as many people as possible.
Why do you think the decision was made to hold the summit in Hiroshima?
Hiroshima has the ability to deliver a message concerning its recovery from the damage wrought by the world’s first atomic bombing in wartime. Hiroshima was selected as the summit venue amid Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons following its invasion of Ukraine. I believe the selection was indicative of Hiroshima’s potential for communicating its message. I hope the G7 leaders will grow aware of the preciousness of peace, and be able to send out a powerful message with that in mind.
We hope the leaders tour the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and listen to testimonies from A-bomb survivors. Do you think our expectations will be realized?
In October last year, the Citizens Council submitted a request to Japan’s national government and demanded that the summit host such events as a tour of the museum and dialogue with A-bomb survivors, as well as communicate a message of peace, as a way to guarantee that survivors’ experiences and their wishes for peace can be shared with the G7 leaders.
For young people, the summit will provide an opportunity to gain interest in international affairs and a better understanding of such issues. We have also requested that the national government help provide support for young people to promote active participation in summit-related events.
How are young people in Hiroshima engaged in your activities?
Students at Motomachi High School, for example, designed the official logo for the Citizens Council featuring a dove and pieces of colorful origami paper. The logo is being used in flyers for the events hosted by our organization. Hiroshima Summit countdown-boards are now set up at the Hiroshima Bus Center, in the city’s centrally located Naka Ward, among other places. The boards are being made by local high school students throughout the prefecture.
Since January, we have been holding after-school educational activities for the summit at junior- and senior-high schools in the prefecture. That activity consists of hosting officials from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who explain the summit’s history and significance. In March, we will hold the G7 Hiroshima Summit Junior Conference in Hiroshima, in which high school students will engage in discussions ahead of the summit. Students from inside the prefecture and from six overseas nations are scheduled to debate such topics as peace and multi-culturalism in English. We are also planning a number of other programs.
Do you have programs that encourage participation of people over a wide age range?
Our Smile for Peace Project does not have an age limit. Anybody can join. In that project, we are collecting photographs of people holding up paper signs with a welcome message for the leaders of each country or with their thoughts about peace. We plan on combining the photos and creating from them a photo collage, which will be displayed at summit events and carried in the newspaper. We encourage people to casually submit photos taken with their family and friends.
Regarding the summit, what are points that young people should pay attention to specifically?
Because people overseas have shown intense interest in the summit held in the A-bombed city, media from some nations, such as Austria and Hungary, have already come to Hiroshima and reported on stories about local high school students working on peace initiatives. During the summit period, a large number of media representatives from Japan and overseas will report on the outcomes of summit deliberations and about general information related to Hiroshima. By accessing such news coverage, people should come to a better understanding of the summit. Please keep a close eye on such reporting.
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
Hiroshima Prefectural Library has established special area featuring summit information with 1,000 publications in 18 genres
For those who want to know more about the G7 summit, we recommend visiting the Hiroshima Prefectural Library, located in the city’s Naka Ward. A new, special area featuring publications related to the summit has been established inside the library.
The new summit area is located immediately to the right of the library’s entrance. Two shelves have been set aside and carry a total of 1,000 publication titles. The area is classified into three main categories: Gaining a deeper understanding of countries participating in the summit participants; Learning about global challenges; and Communicating to the world information about the summit venue of Hiroshima.
Guided by Yoshimasa Toyota, the library’s director, and Sayuri Shoi, deputy director, we junior reporters got a glimpse of the new area. The staff have organized the huge number of publications into 18 different genres, including those concerning the nations participating in the G7 summit, the world economy, and gender. Labels identifying each genre have been placed on the ‘spine’ of the publications to allow users to, at a glance, quickly understand the general content of the publication. For example, national flag labels are used for publications concerning each participating country’s history or culture, and a label with a polar bear is used for publications on climate change.
Since the summit’s agenda has not been formally announced, the staff selected publications for the corner by referring to the agendas discussed at past summit meetings. Five-hundred publications, about half of the 1,000 total, were purchased specifically for the new area. Ms. Shoi said, “We worked hard to select the publications we thought might be useful for our users to learn more about the summit.”
Mr. Toyota said with pride, “We have placed in the area children’s and picture books containing many images and photos to encourage children to pick up them up and take a look.” The area will be open and available to the public through August 20. Even before the summit, we hope to take advantage of the space to study the issues facing the world.
The G7 Hiroshima Summit will also be attended by nuclear nations, specifically France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Some of the other participating nations, including Japan, contend that U.S. nuclear weapons are necessary for their national security. In the next “Junior Writers Reporting” article, scheduled for March, we will examine and report on the situation in each nation.
The above article was written by the following junior writers:
Hitoha Katsura, 18; Yuna Okajima, 18; Shunki Yamahiro, 16; Shino Taguchi, 16; Chihiro Yamase, 16; Meika Kawamoto,14; Natsuki Yamashiro, 14; Gaku Kawanabe, 13; and Mai Nishitani, 13.
(Originally published on February 6, 2023)
