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High school students depart for the U.S. to share their wish for a nuclear-free world

by Junji Akechi, Staff Writer

Three high school students of the "No Nuke Network: Students of Hiroshima Against Nuclear Weapons," a group seeking nuclear abolition, are leaving for Washington, D.C. on March 21 on a week-long trip. In appealing for nuclear abolition, they will tell the A-bomb tragedy to their counterparts of the country which dropped the atomic bombs. They also plan to submit a message to the White House to call for President Obama's visit to Hiroshima. On March 18, the three youths spoke about the trip with enthusiasm at Hiroshima City Hall.

The participants are Yuji Kanemori, 17, a second-year student at Hiroshima Gakuin High School, Tomoko Takamoto, 17, a second-year student at Hiroshima Jogakuin High School, and Yuki Okada, 16, a first-year student at Shudo High School. When they visit schools and churches in Washington, they will show photos of the devastation of Hiroshima and the wounded in the aftermath of the bombing, and screen videos of the survivors' stories, thus passing on the horror of nuclear weapons to the students there.

They also hope to visit President Obama and personally hand him paper cranes folded by Hiroshima citizens. To that end, they are pursuing such a visit through local peace groups. They will carry a letter inviting the president to visit Hiroshima.

Mr. Kanemori said with determination, "As students from Hiroshima, we will do our utmost to convey the horror of nuclear weapons and inspire high school students there to ponder this issue in the country where nuclear weapons tend to be accepted."

The "No Nuke Network" was formed in May of last year. In hopes of realizing President Obama's visit to Hiroshima, the group has been collecting paper cranes folded by citizens with a wish for a nuclear-free world. So far, they have collected 35,000 paper cranes, and they will carry 1,000 of these cranes with them. The remaining cranes will be sent to the United States in April.

(Originally published on March 19, 2010)

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