Hiroshima City to hold training, loan out materials for hundreds of students in 2024, hoping to spread ‘spirit of Hiroshima’ throughout world
Jan. 30, 2024
by Fumiyasu Miyano, Staff Writer
On January 29, it was announced that in fiscal 2024 the Hiroshima City government would launch a project in support of efforts by young people to communicate the tragedy of the atomic bombing both in Japan and overseas. For several hundred university students and international students in Hiroshima Prefecture, the city will hold training sessions and loan out relevant materials that will enable the students to learn about the reality of the devastation wrought by the atomic bombing. The city government’s initiative aims to increase the number of people able to understand and broadly share the ‘spirit of Hiroshima’ and its wish for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
According to several sources, the city’s training sessions will include tours of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in the city’s Naka Ward, as well as opportunities to listen to A-bomb survivors recounting their experiences in the atomic bombing. Training participants will be also taught about methods used for holding A-bombing exhibits and for sharing information on social media platforms. The city will loan out such equipment as virtual reality (VR) headsets through which can be experienced a simulation of the atomic bombing, as well as pre-recorded DVDs of A-bomb survivors’ testimonies. The city plans to set aside a budget for the project expenses in its initial budget proposal for fiscal 2024.
The city governments of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have held overseas A-bombing exhibits since fiscal 1995. In addition, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, who visit countries around the world from Hiroshima Prefecture, have held exhibits about the atomic bombing in their host nations. Added to such efforts, the city hopes that the new program will aid young people in taking the initiative to communicate the reality of the atomic bombing and the city’s wishes for a peaceful world while studying abroad, after returning home, or in their own countries.
The city is also looking into plans to accept, later this year in the summer, participants in the Youth Leader Fund for A World without Nuclear Weapons, a training program established by the United Nations in accordance with a proposal made by Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Training for the new program began in December 2023 in an online format. The first participants in the training for the program numbered 100 young people between the ages of 18 and 29 from 63 nations including nuclear weapons states. The participants included government officials, staff at international and non-governmental organizations, as well as students. Of that total, 50 are scheduled to spend around one week in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as they cooperate in the city’s new effort to develop leaders that can move the world to a future without nuclear weapons.
(Originally published on January 30, 2024)
On January 29, it was announced that in fiscal 2024 the Hiroshima City government would launch a project in support of efforts by young people to communicate the tragedy of the atomic bombing both in Japan and overseas. For several hundred university students and international students in Hiroshima Prefecture, the city will hold training sessions and loan out relevant materials that will enable the students to learn about the reality of the devastation wrought by the atomic bombing. The city government’s initiative aims to increase the number of people able to understand and broadly share the ‘spirit of Hiroshima’ and its wish for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
According to several sources, the city’s training sessions will include tours of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in the city’s Naka Ward, as well as opportunities to listen to A-bomb survivors recounting their experiences in the atomic bombing. Training participants will be also taught about methods used for holding A-bombing exhibits and for sharing information on social media platforms. The city will loan out such equipment as virtual reality (VR) headsets through which can be experienced a simulation of the atomic bombing, as well as pre-recorded DVDs of A-bomb survivors’ testimonies. The city plans to set aside a budget for the project expenses in its initial budget proposal for fiscal 2024.
The city governments of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have held overseas A-bombing exhibits since fiscal 1995. In addition, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)’s Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, who visit countries around the world from Hiroshima Prefecture, have held exhibits about the atomic bombing in their host nations. Added to such efforts, the city hopes that the new program will aid young people in taking the initiative to communicate the reality of the atomic bombing and the city’s wishes for a peaceful world while studying abroad, after returning home, or in their own countries.
The city is also looking into plans to accept, later this year in the summer, participants in the Youth Leader Fund for A World without Nuclear Weapons, a training program established by the United Nations in accordance with a proposal made by Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Training for the new program began in December 2023 in an online format. The first participants in the training for the program numbered 100 young people between the ages of 18 and 29 from 63 nations including nuclear weapons states. The participants included government officials, staff at international and non-governmental organizations, as well as students. Of that total, 50 are scheduled to spend around one week in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as they cooperate in the city’s new effort to develop leaders that can move the world to a future without nuclear weapons.
(Originally published on January 30, 2024)
