The entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on January 22, 2021 marked a new start towards the realization of a world without nuclear weapons. However, in the current international situation that emphasizes the pursuit of national interests, unfortunately we are far from freeing ourselves from the nuclear deterrence theory held by policymakers. Against this backdrop, it is becoming increasingly necessary to create a social situation in which the abolition of nuclear weapons, which symbolize the violent nature of human beings, becomes the consensus of civil society and encourages a change in policy. To achieve this, it is important to create a "culture of peace" in civil society, in other words, a situation in which each citizen thinks and acts about peace in his or her daily life, and in which there is no justification for violence of any kind, including war, conflict, discrimination, and prejudice.
　With this in mind, from 2021 the City of Hiroshima has designated November of every year as the Month for a Culture of Peace, and this Foundation, in cooperation with the City of Hiroshima, has held various events during this period to promote culture that leads to a shared desire for peace. Many people participated in the events, renewing their commitment to peace.
　At each event during the period, we wore yellow-green PR ribbons, our image color, and displayed our logo to promote the "Culture of Peace" and encourage support for this initiative.

Peace Culture Lecture (November 1)

　As the opening event of the Month, we welcomed actor Ms. Sahel Rosa to give a lecture on the topic of "Encounters with people gave me the strength to live."
　Ms. Sahel has been active as an actor in film, stage, and television, and also as a goodwill ambassador for the international human rights NGO A Home for Every Child. She was born in Iran, grew up in an orphanage until the age of four, met her adoptive mother and came to Japan at the age of eight, and has since experienced a difficult and challenging life.
　In the midst of all this, Ms. Sahel related many heartwarming episodes that gave her the opportunity to live positively through encounters with various people, and they made the audience think deeply about their own way of being and how they relate to others.
　After overcoming her painful past, Ms. Sahel's many positive messages, spoken with a bright and wonderful smile, greatly touched the hearts of the audience, and the venue was wrapped in a warm circle of emotion. Ms. Sahel's story, which expressed her sympathy and support for initiatives for the Month for a Culture of Peace, spoke to the spirit of Hiroshima desiring for peace and the spirit of peace culture, making it a fitting opening event for the Month.

Citizens' Peace Culture Event: Connecting Thoughts on Peace to the Future (November 3)

　The Citizens' Peace Culture Event: Connecting Thoughts on Peace to the Future was held at the International Conference Center's Large Conference Room Dahlia. Ten groups of young people and citizens who are engaged in peace activities in Hiroshima presented their daily activities and thoughts on peace through stage presentations and exhibits.
　Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui opened the event by saying, "This event, where we share our thoughts on peace through the presentation of artistic and cultural activities such as music and art, is truly an event that will instill a 'culture of peace', and I am pleased that so many citizens are participating." 　Four groups gave presentations on their initiatives, communicating a message of peace. All of the presentations were excellent, bringing the presenters and the audience together to rethink the importance of peace. 　This work was based on a picture book of the true story of children from all over Japan taking a special train to the Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, where two elephants that survived World War II are kept. The children sang and danced adorably in this musical play performed by a local ocarina group.
　Mr. Takashi Koide, the author of the picture book, came to the venue to watch the children's performance, and at the end, he and the mayor of Hiroshima joined the children on stage to celebrate the finale together. 　This was a performance and chorus of pan flutes made from the A-bombed tree Kaizukaibuki (Dragon Juniper) that used to grow in Senda Elementary School in Hiroshima City. The last song, Soreyuke Carp, a fight song of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team, stirred the audience to clap their hands, and the choir and the audience enjoyed their time together. 　In addition to introducing their own activities, the members spoke about their thoughts on peace and made proposals about what young people can do for peace. A quiz related to the Atomic Bomb Dome was also given to deepen interaction with the audience. 　As the last of the stage presentations, a creative play for peace was performed, which powerfully depicted the process of reconstruction after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima for the first time in human history. The performance was performed by 17 people, including children from 4 years old to elementary and junior high school students and adults, and the audience was filled with emotion as they prayed that the tragedy of the use of nuclear weapons would never be repeated. 　Six groups presented exhibits on the results of their daily activities and their thoughts on peace.
　There was also a corner at the venue where children could draw pictures on paper recycled from Orizuru paper cranes and have them made into badges to take home as souvenirs, and a hands-on corner where visitors could write messages of peace on pigeon-shaped stickers and paste them. These were ways that visitors could express their thoughts on peace through their own creations. There was also an information corner with flyers of various events for the Month for a Culture of Peace to promote the month’s events. 　The club members introduced their activities, as well as holding a hands-on workshop where participants folded paper cranes the same size as those folded by Sadako Sasaki. Many small origami cranes were made by visitors with their thoughts for peace. 　On display were more than one hundred daruma dolls, a traditional craft of Fukushima, painted with various messages, as well as daruma dolls created by Hiroshima Mayor Matsui and famous cartoonists. Many visitors took pictures and looked intently at the displays. 　This exhibit introduced the "Peace Department Store" of Hiroshima Commercial High School, and the exchange activities with its sister school, Nagasaki Municipal Nagasaki Commercial High School, through their joint peace declaration, Hiroshima-Nagasaki "Peace Bell" project, and jointly developed products. Small children who came to the event also rang the peace bell, and the sound of the bell echoed throughout the venue from time to time. 　In addition to the "Small Prayers Shadow Play Exhibition", the International Club members introduced their past activities and shadow plays, which drew the visitors into the fantastic world of shadow plays. 　There was a demonstration and workshop on copper plate paper crane making. There was an exhibition of the production process and a hands-on corner where participants could actually make copper plate origami cranes. Many children made copper plate cranes as they received guidance from the mechanical engineering students. 　This exhibit introduced the activities of the memorial hall and the children's volunteer group "Small Hands", which has been active for 24 years. Also on display for the first time in the city of Hiroshima were children's inmate uniforms (actual items) used in concentration camps and Anne Frank's roses grafted by the children of the group. Visitors stopped to listen intently to the explanation. 　Many visitors left messages at the message corner.
・"May the world be free of nuclear weapons! May everyone in the world lives with a smile."
・"I wish for a time when people all over the world can forget their tears and smile every day."
・"I wish for a world where everyone can live with a kind heart..." About 300 people visited the event site to watch the stage presentations and to interact and exchange information at the hands-on corner. It was a day where participants and visitors could experience the "culture of peace" through artistic and cultural activities.
　By participating in this event, the young generation who are working for peace were able to interact with each other, and there were warm words of support for their efforts, making it an opportunity for participants and visitors alike to renew their commitment to peace.

Online event: A-bomb Piano Concert: An investigation of peace playing an A-bombed piano (available online from November 13)

　There are many forms of peace culture, and music expressed with a wish for peace is one of them. In order to encourage people to think about peace through familiar music, the A-bomb Piano Concert, in which musicians associated with Hiroshima perform in memory of the A-bomb victims, has been available online since November 13, and has been viewed by more than 870 people so far. 　The A-bombed piano used in the concert was the one that Ms. Akiko Kawamoto loved to play, which is on display on the second floor of the Rest House in Peace Memorial Park. Akiko was 19 years old when she was exposed to the atomic bomb while working as a mobilized student, and she died on August 7, the day after the atomic bombing. The piano is still pierced with fragments of glass that were scattered by the blast of the atomic bomb, and with its beautiful sound, it conveys to us the tragedy of the atomic bombing. 　At the concert, "Farewell Song", one of Akiko's favorite Chopin pieces, was performed by erhu Chinese violin player Jiang Xiaoyan from Dalian, China, and pianist Masakazu Shintaku. Other performances included "Sunset" by soprano Shiho Nakagawa and pianist Ayako Yoshikawa, "Go Up Hiroshima" by Hiroshima-born New York-based jazz pianist Takeshi Obayashi, and "Memory of Life" by singer-songwriter Kazumi Nikaido, who lives in Otake City, Hiroshima. In addition, Mr. Obayashi, Ms. Peace messages Nikaido, and Ms. Jiang performed "One Pencil", expressing their thoughts on peace to the sounds of the A-bombed piano.

PEACE Kids Campus (November 14)

　An art workshop was held for children to think about the importance of peace.
　Twenty-five children between the ages of 3 and 12 and their parents participated in the event. After watching a peace education animation, the participants made an A-bomb Dome art creation out of paper clay using recycled paper cranes. Under the guidance of Professor Shoji Morinaga of Hiroshima City University's Faculty of Art, parents and children worked together to create their own A-bomb domes by making a framework for the dome part with colorful braid and then freely attaching the walls with paper clay made from recycled paper cranes.
　At the end, everyone illuminated their art creations and cheered at the glittering work.
　The children who participated in the event said, "It was fun. I will come again." From the parents, we received messages such as, "I hope the peaceful time of making crafts with children will continue forever."
　It was an opportunity for parents and children to think about the importance of peace together through watching peace education animations and creating art objects.

Communicating Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Each Other －Hiroshima Session 2021－ (November 20)

　As the A-bomb survivors are aging, the "Let's Tell Each Other About Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Hiroshima Association 2021" event was held to convey the thoughts of A-bomb survivors, mainly through recitation, with the belief that it is important for various generations to pass on the A-bomb experience in their own ways. This event was planned for the first time by volunteers from various organizations that have been conducting A-bomb testimony reading activities in Hiroshima City, and was co-sponsored by our Foundation.
　At the event, there were screenings of video clips that were produced by members of Hiroshima Prefecture high school broadcasting clubs based on the stories of the hibakusha and bereaved family members. In addition, reading volunteers from the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims and a reading group from Nagasaki City also participated in the event. In addition, performing readings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb testimonies and a recitation play.
　Visitors left comments such as "It was good to see people of all ages, including high school students, participating in the event," and "the variety of the performances provided a valuable opportunity to think about peace." The event became an opportunity for the performers and visitors to share their thoughts of the hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and renew their commitment to peace.

Hiroshima Peace Forum: screening of film "The Vow from Hiroshima" (November 27)

　As the closing event of the Month for a Culture of Peace, we screened the documentary film "The Vow from Hiroshima", which traces the life of Setsuko Thurlow, an A-bomb survivor living in Canada who worked for the entry into force of the TPNW and gave the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech at the ICAN Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in 2017. Yumi Kanazaki, Director of the Hiroshima Peace Media Center of the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper, also gave a lecture titled "The journey to the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the future".
　Ms. Kanazaki gave a clear explanation of the TPNW and praised Germany's announcement to participate as an observer at the First Meeting of States Parties. She also talked about what she felt through her years of reporting and anecdotes with Setsuko Thurlow. Finally, she introduced an audio message from the film's producer, Michi Takeuchi, who was born in Hiroshima and lives in New York, saying, "I hope this film will inspire you to take action for a peaceful world."
　Visitors commented, "I felt once again that the accumulation of small actions is important," and "I was moved by the energy in each of Ms. Thurlow's words." Through the lecture and the film, we were able to empathize with Setsuko Thurlow's thoughts and share with the audience the importance of each of us wishing for peace in our daily lives and taking action, even in small ways.

Winner of the Peace Culture Award decided!

　As one of the activities of the Month for a Culture of Peace, the Hiroshima City Board of Education has awarded the Peace Culture Prize to four of the entries in the annual "Messages from Our Young People" contest. The works express a strong desire for peace in daily life.
　The entries were based on the theme, "I want a Hiroshima like this", and were essays, manga comics, and illustrations that expressed the importance of the city in which they live and their ideal city. The works can be viewed on this Foundation's website. 　It has been 76 years since the tragedy. The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and many people lost their lives. And yet, in Hiroshima, where it was said that no plants will grow for 75 years, there is a clear river flowing and a lively, bustling city.
　The people of Hiroshima did not give up, no matter how much the city was torn apart. Everyone worked together, helped each other, and connected "Hiroshima" to our generation. That's why it's my turn now.
　I hope that the town will become a place where people can enjoy their daily lives by helping each other out whenever they are in need. It was because I experienced this kind of help.
　It was when I was a grade 2 student. I was walking home from school with a friend when I sprained my ankle. At that time, my friends around me went to call the teacher, and the teacher came and helped me. The teacher came and helped me. I felt so relieved. 　From this experience, I wanted to bring this idea of "helping each other" to everyone.
　Hiroshima is a city of people helping each other. Helping each other brings happiness to everyone. 　I thought about the peace in terms of the SDGs. Can you tell me the date when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima? I can't remember right away. The atomic bombing was horrible and I don't want it to happen again, but I think the events of that time are fading from our memories as time goes by.
　My great-grandmother was a nurse at the time who was sent to the areas hit by the atomic bomb. My great-grandmother was with her friends, realized that she had left something in her room and ran back to get it. Shortly after that, the atomic bomb was dropped nearby. Only my great-grandmother survived because she went home to retrieve something she had forgotten, while the rest of her friends were caught in the bombing. Partly because she was a nurse, she was not able to eat meat again after that day.
　I want to pass on the story I heard from my great-grandmother to future generations, and I want as many people as possible to know that this kind of thing should never happen. To the extent that the people of that time suffered, we want to take on the atomic bombing and pass it on to future generations to protect the peace of the SDGs.