Peace Education Seminar

One of the options on Friday was to choose from 4 different seminars, I chose to go to the one on Peace Education. The moderator was David Satterwhite, the head of the Japan-United States Educational Commission. The panelists were Tomoko Yinagi, a teacher at the Hiroshima Misuzugaoka High School, Koji Ikeda who is chairman of the Yokasuka Disabled Veterans Association, and Migiwa Ishitani, an employee of the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Program.

Tomoko Yinagi started the program, she is the English teacher at her high school and she was very easy to understand. She started out by telling the audience that her father was a Hibakusha, that is an A-bomb survivor. Her father was 14 years old the day the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima. She related the horrific story of how he survived that day and the days following. She said he would never talk about those days, but that the experience was so devastating to him and many survivors that for the rest of their lives they were champions of the cause that there should never, ever again be an atomic bomb. After World War II, the Japanese constitution added a provision that they would never be involved with atomic weapons. Her perspective as a high school teacher allows her to have a good insight into the minds and heart of young Japanese men and women. Her great concern at this time is that the further away we get from the bombing of Hiroshima, the less impact it is making on the young people. As the Hibakusha pass away, and are no longer here to tell their stories, people are forgetting how horrific that bombing was and there currently is a movement with the Japanese people to repeal the provision in their constitution that bans nucleur weapons. She gave all of us much to think about.

Koji Ikeda, is a very respectable older gentleman. He spoke very good English, his voice was often soft, but he spoke with the firm voice of one who has lived through hell and survived. Mr. Ideda was a young, married Japanese soldier on the day that the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He heard and felt the blast, but his first thought was of his young wife and infant baby. When he found them, he said that the flesh had been burned right off the right side of his wife's face. In spite of the excruciating pain his wife felt, she reached out to him so that he could place the baby at her breast and be fed. He, too, spoke of the days after the bombing, how people wandered around in a daze because the devastation was so complete, no one could even identify where they were, there were no landmarks left. Mr. Ikeda stated that he does not hold hate in his heart towards the Americans - I am not sure I could be so forgiving. He is the chairman of the Disabled Veterans Association and his main focus in the twilight days of his life is to make sure people do not forget the horrible results of an atomic weapon.

The last speaker, Migiwa Ishitani, is a young woman. Before she began, Mr. Satterwhite explained that the reason she was speaking today was not because she was an employee of JFMF, but because of her father, Susumu Ishitani. Migawa's father was also a Hibakusha. He was a boy of 13 when the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima. She related that her father had passed away 3 years ago, and that he was the one who used to contribute to this seminar. She said that her father always started his story the same way, and that she felt compelled to do the same. This tiny young woman stood up in front of a group of over 50 Americans and said in a shaking voice that she would like to offer an apology on her father's behalf, to all the people who were so bady hurt and killed by the actions of her father's country in WWII. She went on to tell some details of what he endured during the days and months after the bombing. As he grew up he came to realize that the things the Japanese government had told it's citizens about the Americans and the war were full of lies. He came to truly believe that no war was justified and that he eventually became a Quaker and a world reknown peace activist and educator. Some of the facts that she shared were that even today, there are no remedies for injuries and illnesses associated with atomic bombs. She told us that the Hiroshima bomb was the equivalent of 12 tons of TNT, the Nagasaki bomb was even stronger - 20 tons of TNT. The newest atomic bomb - the H bomb, is the equivalent of 15 MILLION tons of TNT. The survivors say, "No more atomic bombs!" She ended with a quote that I loved, "War begins in the heart of the man, and in the heart we must build peace." Mr. Satterwhite, our moderator, shared that he had been a friend of Mr. Ishitani's for over 30 years and had watched his daughter, Migiwa, grow up. He added that she was now married and expecting her first child, and so her father's legacy will live on in her child.

At the end of her talk, the audience was visibly, emotionally touched. There was a time for questions, and a young teacher raised her hand and was handed the microphone. She went on to say her name and relate that she was a teacher from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She shared that her town, Oak Ridge, was a town created by the United States government in the days leading up to World War II. In this town, the US government set up a top-secret scientific facility. The purpose of this facility was to make the uranium that was the atomic part of the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The teacher said in a very emotion-packed voice, " On behalf of my country, I would like to offer apologies for all the devastation that came as a result of what went on in my town." How ironic that these two women would share this strange, sad bond. It was an amazing experience and I am very glad I was there to share it.