1. MESSAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

In July 1994 Chiaki Mukai, an astronaut, sent us a message from the American space shuttle, "Columbia". "It is like looking at the earth from an observatory revolves around it. The earth is really beautiful in the utter darkness. "

A lion family wandering the field with the setting sun on their backs; a fishing boat working in the sea under the twinkling Southern Cross; people and cars hurrying into the city; children running through the path of the wood. The whole scenery of people, wildlife and plants living on our beautiful planet is our valuable asset.

However, there are a lot of problems on the earth that we have to solve. The oceans are being polluted and the forests are being destroyed. The poor and the weak are unprotected and national and racial disputes never seem to cease. Moreover, nations with nuclear weapons are threatening human existence.

In the summer of 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the single drop of an atomic bomb and thousand of people were killed. Those who barely survived also died later because of aftereffects of radiation.

The citizens of Hiroshima thought that such nuclear weapons should never be used again, while they reflected on the causes of the war that Japan infringed including the aggression on the other Asian countries. And for that purpose, the citizens of Hiroshima have continuously sent messages, together with the citizens of another A-bomb city, Nagasaki, to the rest of the world what kinds of damage would be brought by a nuclear weapon.

The Chugoku Shimbun, as an A-bomb witness, has been reporting things that happened after the bombing and has been warning the world by means of the newspaper of the misery and tragedy that nuclear weapons can cause.

The horror of nuclear war will be eliminated once the people of the world agree to the abolition of nuclear weapons. Such efforts will also lead to the solution of many other problems we face today on this earth.

This is a letter from Hiroshima to the young people who will be living the future of the earth. Let's draw a draft together for a beautiful world free of nuclear threat.

　　　　 　　　　 　　　　
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