News

by Yuji Yamamoto, Staff Writer

To commemorate the 80th year after the atomic bombing, a peace delegation formed by the World Friendship Center (WFC), a non-profit organization based in Naka Ward of Hiroshima, will depart for the United States on September 19. Members of the delegation include atomic bomb survivors and peace activists. They will visit the Peace Resource Center at Wilmington College in Ohio in the Midwest. In addition to attending a symposium, they will visit various locations to share information about the atomic bomb’s devastation and efforts toward nuclear abolition and meet local citizens.

Established in 1975, the Peace Resource Center mainly houses atomic bomb-related literature collected by Barbara Reynolds (1915-1990), an American peace activist who founded the WFC and became an honorary citizen of Hiroshima City. Members will speak at the center’s 50th anniversary commemorative symposium to be held from September 29 to October 1 and participate in academic conferences about the importance of archives.

In Portland on the West Coast, they will visit local high schools, churches, and meeting places for senior citizens from September 20. They will speak about their experiences, thoughts, and activities, and exchange opinions. In Seattle, they will read to elementary school students a picture book about Floyd Schmoe, an American who built houses for atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima.

Four members will participate in the entire schedule. One of them is Yukihiro Ishikawa, 84, from the city of Tottori, who experienced the atomic bombing in Hiroshima at age 4. Masae Shoda, 75, from Osaka and Akiko Kai, 69, from Hiroshima’s Higashi Ward, are second-generation survivors and A-bomb Legacy Successors appointed by the city of Hiroshima. Sanjuro Ikeda, 23, from Naka Ward, is a third-generation survivor. For events to be held on the West Coast until September 27, two other members will join. One is Chinatsu Moriue, 19, who is originally from Aki Ward of Hiroshima and a first-year student at Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo Prefecture. The other is Sakura Miyamoto, 17, a resident of Asaminami Ward and a second-year student at Sotoku High School.

The WFC’s delegations began as the World Peace Pilgrimage in 1962 and 1964 proposed by Ms. Reynolds. The group has been sending delegations as international exchanges at the grassroots level. Shizuo Tachibana, 70, chair of the WFC, said, “Carrying on Ms. Reynolds’ wish, we have continued exchanges between Japanese and American citizens helped by the bonds between them. We hope the delegation members will have deep discussions and exchanges in the U.S., bringing us closer to realizing a peaceful world.”

(Originally published on September 18, 2025)