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Last year once again the Peace Forum for International Students was held.
This forum is a 2-part event, with the aim of ensuring that the international students who have chosen Hiroshima as the location of their study understand the "spirit of Hiroshima" and sow the seeds of peace in their respective homelands.
August 3
(Part 1) Peace Study Session "Learning about the Truth of the A-bomb Damage"
This session was led by Ms. Yumie Hirano (former NAC－Never Again Campaign－ Peace Ambassador, and a trainee of a Hiroshima City's program to foster atomic bombing experience messenger).
As a new initiative, lectures of 1 hour each were given in English and Japanese respectively in the training room at Hiroshima City International House.
First was the lecture in English.
After viewing a 10-minute DVD entitled "The Ravages of the Atomic Bombing", photographs and maps were used to provide detailed explanations of Japanese history, Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, and the actual damage caused by the atomic bomb.
Ten international students from Indonesia and other countries, who understood English more easily than Japanese, attended the session, which was very well received as it enabled the participants to deepen their understanding by asking questions in English.
The same lecture was then provided in Japanese.
A total of 34 international students, from countries such as China, Mongolia, Vietnam and Korea attended this session.
The lecturer made special efforts such as writing difficult Japanese that the students may not be used to in large letters on drawing paper, and the lecturer's passion for the subject was evident.
Answers to the questionnaire included comments such as "I learned about the atomic bombing for the first time",
"The damage was worse than I imagined", and
"I didn't know that there are people still suffering from the effects of radiation, or that there were bomb survivors who experienced discrimination in marriage, for example".
As many as 83% of respondents said that their way of thinking about the atomic bombing changed, indicating that people were able to deepen their understanding through language-based learning.
The international students' awareness changed significantly as a result of learning about the facts.
August 6
(Part 2) Participation in Peace Memorial Ceremony
Approximately 30 international students and their friends attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony.
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In the foreign attendees' seats at the Peace Memorial Ceremony
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The international students were deeply moved by the sight of the many volunteers at the ceremony attended by large numbers of Hiroshima's citizens.
The volunteers worked earnestly under the blazing sun from early in the morning, providing cold water and hand cloths, taking guests to their seats, and other support activities.
The students understood the high level interest of Hiroshima's citizens in peace activities, and it seemed that they shared with them a renewed desire for peace.
In their reports after the ceremony, some students commented,
"I reaffirmed that atomic bombs are an absolute evil",
"I was moved by the wonderful recovery that Hiroshima has made", and
"I want to communicate the truth to the people in my homeland".
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