×

News

Pictures of Hiroshima, made by children in Belarus, are received in Japan

by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer

Pictures made by 37 children in Belarus have been received in Japan. The children read Japanese picture books that depict the destruction caused by the atomic bomb and expressed their feelings about the books by creating this artwork. The project began in September 2015 with a visit to Belarus by Hiroyuki Shinjo, 55. The writers of the children’s books are thrilled by the unexpected response from children abroad.

Mr. Shinjo, who is interested in current conditions in Belarus, which suffered the most severe damage as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, visited Minsk, the capital. He also visited a cultural exchange organization called the Japanese Culture Information Center, whose head office is in the Minsk Municipal Children’s Library. After returning to Japan, he bought the Russian version of some picture books and sent them to Belarus with the hope that children there would learn about Hiroshima and the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb.

One of the two books sent to Belarus is about children who have been inspired by Sadako Sasaki, who folded paper cranes in the hope that this would help her recover from leukemia. Written by Shiho Umino, the book is entitled Paper Crane Journey Carrying Sadako’s Prayer. Sadako eventually succumbed to her illness at the age of 12. The other book is Pinkuiro no kumo: Obaachan no Hiroshima (Pink-colored Clouds: Grandma’s Hiroshima), which was written by Kayoko Uruga, 55, a resident of Inagi, Tokyo. Based on her mother’s experiences enduring the air raids on the city of Kure and entering Hiroshima in the aftermath of the atomic bombing, the book was published by Ms. Uruga at her own expense.

These two books were brought to an art class in Minsk by a staff member of the Japanese Culture Information Center and children from the ages of seven to fifteen expressed their feelings about the books by painting and drawing pictures. Mr. Shinjo, who received the pictures in February, said that the pictures reflect a wide variety of personalities and that their perspectives on peace are somewhat different than those of people in Japan. The titles attached to each picture are intriguing. An eight-year-old girl’s painting which depicts a child wearing a rainbow-colored skirt bears the words “We Are Responsible for Peace in the World.” A nine-year-old child’s painting of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb is titled “Airplane Carrying Sorrow.” A pencil drawing which depicts people underneath the atomic bomb’s mushroom cloud is titled “Innocent Victims.”

Mr. Shinjo sent the original pictures and color copies to the books’ authors. Ms. Uruga, who published her book in both English and Russian to send a message to the United States and Russia, which continue to cling to their nuclear arsenals, said she was glad that the desire for peace has reached the hearts of children who didn’t know about the atomic bomb. She holds peace gatherings and exhibitions in August each year as the leader of a local peace group that involves three generations. This year she plans to display the pictures made by the children in Belarus.

Meanwhile, Paper Crane Journey Carrying Sadako’s Prayer has been translated into a number of languages by ANT-Hiroshima, an NPO based in Naka Ward, Hiroshima. The organization is also considering an exhibition of the children’s pictures.

(Originally published on April 17, 2017)

Archives