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Peace scholar Johan Galtung speaks in Hiroshima

by Yoko Nitta, Staff Writer

The internationally-known Norwegian peace scholar Johan Galtung, 79, spoke at Aster Plaza in downtown Hiroshima on August 23. In his lecture, he stressed the importance of a process in which parties in conflict discuss their differences and build a future together. He touched on such events as Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and pointed to the importance of transcending the great suffering of these events and make efforts to share their history.

Nearly 50 NGO workers, scholars, and students from Japan and abroad listened closely to the lecture.

About the creation of an East Asian community, Mr. Galtung indicated the significance of holding a dream and, toward this end, specified such ideas as converting the U.S. military bases in Okinawa into community bases for the local populace.

The lecture was held as part of a five-day human resources development program organized by an NGO in Kyoto and other entities. In the late evening on the same day, a discussion between former Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka and Mr. Galtung took place. They exchanged views on such subjects as the path to nuclear abolition.

Michael Frank A. Alar, 30, from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process in the Philippines, found it impressive that Mr. Galtung emphasized the idea of holding a dream, adding that he agrees with this outlook.

(Originally published on August 24, 2010)

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