At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum we have presented A-bomb eyewitness testimony via the web conference system to people overseas. These videoconferences convey the facts about nuclear weapons and raise public awareness of the need to eliminate nuclear weapons.
The eyewitness accounts given by atomic bomb survivors are conducted live from the Museum, allowing us to experience the atmosphere in conference rooms on the other side of the world. The listeners in these conferences are able to talk live with the hibakusha and watch PowerPoint slides while listening to eyewitness accounts. Q&A sessions are also conducted in real time.
As of December, eleven web conference sessions had been conducted in 2011 with 9 cities in 6 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Russia.
A web conference was conducted at the Glasgow University Chapel, Scotland, with a researcher from the university in November. He had this to report to his sponsors: "The accounts I heard were very important experiences to me. The eloquent statements by the eyewitnesses were well balanced unbiased views which left a deep impression upon me."
This use of technology for peace helps mutual dialogue and greatly reduces the physical burden upon the aging hibakusha. It is also cost efficient. We plan to pursue greater use of this method for disseminating atomic bomb eyewitness accounts.