The APEC Junior Conference

Current lives of the participants

The APEC Junior Conference, which was held in Hiroshima in February 2010, was realized as a result of a proposal put forth in Peace Seeds about organizing an international conference for young people in the city. The gathering brought together 37 youth from 19 nations and regions, most of them high school students. They discussed such issues as economics and the environment, and visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where they listened to the account of an A-bomb survivor. They capped off the conference with a declaration which detailed their ideas for building a peaceful and prosperous society.

For this issue, just prior to published the 100th issue of Peace Seeds, we asked the participants of the conference what influence the event has had on them and what their lives are like today. We found that the "seeds" sowed by the junior writers in organizing this gathering have taken root in a number of places in the world and are now growing strong, with branches spreading wide and bearing leaves.

The 2010 APEC Junior Conference in Hiroshima

The general meeting of the APEC Junior Conference was held in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in February 2010.

With the theme of "Our Future, the Earth's Future: Creating a Peaceful and Prosperous Society," the conference took place from February 20 to 23, 2010 and the main venue of the event of Peace Memorial Museum. In addition to their tour of the museum, they listened to the A-bomb experience of Keijiro Matsushima and attended the keynote address by poet Arthur Binard. Afterwards, they took part in small group discussions on the topics of "The Environment," "Education," "Intercultural Communication/Understanding," and "Trade, Food and Poverty." These discussions then concluded with the drafting of the declaration. The declaration was then delivered to the chairman of the APEC meeting of senior officials, which was held at the same time in Hiroshima.