“Memory keeper” Yumie Hirano to visit Poland in May, convey survivors’ experiences of atomic bombing
Apr. 18, 2016
by Sakiko Masuda, Staff Writer
Yumie Hirano, 69, has become actively involved in traveling to other countries and conveying memories of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Ms. Hirano began her training to serve as a “memory keeper” of the A-bomb experience in 2012, when the City of Hiroshima established a program for ordinary citizens to transmit the accounts of aging A-bomb survivors and their desire for peace. Since then, she has visited Peru, Mongolia, and Iceland to share A-bomb survivors’ accounts. She now plans to visit Poland in May and tell about the horror of the atomic bombing to university students and the public.
Ms. Hirano was born in Akitakata in northern Hiroshima Prefecture and raised in the city of Hiroshima. Because of her husband’s job transfers, she lived in a number of places across Japan while working as a clinical laboratory technician. When her husband retired, she returned to Hiroshima at the age of 55. Interested in international exchange, she has been pursuing volunteer activities such as teaching Japanese to people of other countries and guiding visitors around the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in English.
She first shared Hiroshima’s message in another country in 2011, when she became a “peace ambassador” for the Never Again Campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of the A-bomb consequences in the United States. She conveyed information on the atomic bombing and called for abolition of nuclear weapons. “It seemed to me that not many people know what really happened under the mushroom cloud,” she said.
In 2012, she applied to become a memory keeper, and first began speaking to the public in April 2015. She has related memories of the atomic bombing of three survivors and their desire for peace at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and at junior high schools in the city.
Hoping to deliver the survivors’ accounts to people who are unable to visit Hiroshima, she began going overseas. Ms. Hirano has covered her own expenses while friends have helped as liaisons. Her travels include Peru in 2013, Mongolia in 2014, and Iceland in 2015, and this year she will leave for Poland on May 20. She will speak to the general public and college students in Cracow and Warsaw. She will also visit the former Auschwitz concentration camp, where many Jews were massacred by Nazi Germany.
“Many Jews were killed because of racial discrimination, and innocent civilians were killed in Hiroshima. I want to convey how human rights are abused at a time of war,” Ms. Hirano said.
(Originally published on April 18, 2016)
Yumie Hirano, 69, has become actively involved in traveling to other countries and conveying memories of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Ms. Hirano began her training to serve as a “memory keeper” of the A-bomb experience in 2012, when the City of Hiroshima established a program for ordinary citizens to transmit the accounts of aging A-bomb survivors and their desire for peace. Since then, she has visited Peru, Mongolia, and Iceland to share A-bomb survivors’ accounts. She now plans to visit Poland in May and tell about the horror of the atomic bombing to university students and the public.
Ms. Hirano was born in Akitakata in northern Hiroshima Prefecture and raised in the city of Hiroshima. Because of her husband’s job transfers, she lived in a number of places across Japan while working as a clinical laboratory technician. When her husband retired, she returned to Hiroshima at the age of 55. Interested in international exchange, she has been pursuing volunteer activities such as teaching Japanese to people of other countries and guiding visitors around the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in English.
She first shared Hiroshima’s message in another country in 2011, when she became a “peace ambassador” for the Never Again Campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of the A-bomb consequences in the United States. She conveyed information on the atomic bombing and called for abolition of nuclear weapons. “It seemed to me that not many people know what really happened under the mushroom cloud,” she said.
In 2012, she applied to become a memory keeper, and first began speaking to the public in April 2015. She has related memories of the atomic bombing of three survivors and their desire for peace at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and at junior high schools in the city.
Hoping to deliver the survivors’ accounts to people who are unable to visit Hiroshima, she began going overseas. Ms. Hirano has covered her own expenses while friends have helped as liaisons. Her travels include Peru in 2013, Mongolia in 2014, and Iceland in 2015, and this year she will leave for Poland on May 20. She will speak to the general public and college students in Cracow and Warsaw. She will also visit the former Auschwitz concentration camp, where many Jews were massacred by Nazi Germany.
“Many Jews were killed because of racial discrimination, and innocent civilians were killed in Hiroshima. I want to convey how human rights are abused at a time of war,” Ms. Hirano said.
(Originally published on April 18, 2016)
