PAX

Yu-ai Friendship
Newsletter of the World Friendship Center, NPO

2019 Korean PAX report
Shizuo Tachibana

I visited South Korea from April 30 to May 5, 2019 as group leader of the Korean PAX tour, the Peace Ambassador Exchange. I would like to share a few thoughts regarding this Korean PAX.

We visited the House of Sharing for victims of Japanese military sexual slavery on May 2. There we met one of the grandmothers, 이옥선 Ii Ukseon, and I apologized to her as a Japanese person. However, she said that she wanted an apology from the Japanese government, not from me. She said that she didn’t expect an apology from the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Hearing that for her my apology meant nothing, I was shocked. At the political level between two countries, there are so many issues going on that need to be resolved. The grandmothers have seven demands, the Japanese staff of the House of Sharing, Mr. Tsukasa Yajima told us. The Japanese government has to answer to these seven demands, which the present government chooses to ignore. Is there anything left, then, that we Japanese citizens can do for these victims of sex slavery?

On May 2, after Ms. Masue Matsumoto shared her experience of the A-bombing, there was a question to her. ‘Why don’t the Japanese ask for an apology from the U.S.?’ She explained about a characteristic attitude of Japanese people to experiences in the past. The Japanese tend to forget what happened, as one releases incidents in the stream of memory. It is not only her, but many hibakusha don’t especially want an apology from the U.S. Instead they say that they don’t want anyone to experience what they did. I know that the Japanese have to apologize and seek to be forgiven because of the war. The Korean grandmothers need an apology from the Japanese government. However, I hope that as Japanese people continue to visit the victims of the sex slavery with their apologies and a heart of love, these may heal them and they will someday accept our apologies. I believe that this is one of the things that Japanese citizen could do about the past. 

In the end, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Peace Building Community for their warm welcome and commitment to this program dedicated to peace between our countries. I hope that Korean PAX will continue to contribute to the peace of this region.

Copyright © NPO World Friendship Center 2019 All Rights Reserved

Yu-ai Friendship
Newsletter of the World Friendship Center, NPO

In retrospect of the PAX Tour USA
Foundations of Peace

The 12 day PAX Tour was, for me, an experience of many “beginnings.”

My daily experiences and realizations led to seeing Hiroshima through an outside perspective and to think of “peace” in broader ways. It also became a trip of self-discovery.

The sculpture placed at the University of Chicago where the world’s first nuclear reactor was, and the exhibit at the United States Air Force Museum both seemed to showcase the American narrative praising the achievement and development of nuclear power to this day. A statement from a Chinese man at Illinois Wesleyan pointed out the atrocities done by the Japanese imperial army to the Asian countries during WWII. Each with its own story and historical memory, how could we communicate with our eyes collectively toward the future and take steps toward peace? How should our generation pass on the history of Hiroshima?

At the Peace Conference at Illinois Wesleyan, I learned about the present state of those who need “peace” in the world due to conflicts, hate that goes back in history, income disparity, racial and sexual discrimination, etc., and of the works people are doing to better these situations. So what is “peace”? Is peace different for each individual? What are the commonalities?

These are all questions I don’t yet have clear answers for, but ones I was compelled to ask and bring home. I wish to seek answers for these questions as I gain knowledge and hopefully wisdom.

There were two things in particular I’ve noticed through our activities.

First was the several class visits we did at universities. There, we mainly spent time with questions and answers rather than a one-sided presentation. I noticed an active participation along with direct connections with the students that were very meaningful.

Second was the power of art. In my presentation I gave a brief introduction on the project, the “Grandchildren of Hiroshima.” Then there was Amano-san’s one-man drama, “Living with Father.” I realized again that art is one effective avenue that possesses an unique strength in telling the story of Hiroshima. Neither race nor nationality mattered when it came to the power that moves people and naturally leads their heart to empathize as human beings.

Above are the two points I’d like to learn from and utilize in the future. Our presentations were aimed toward university students and older this time, but I’d really like to reach a wider generation of people next time, and hopefully through many avenues including culture, history, testimonies, and art. I hope this would lead each one of us to consider nuclear issues as a humanitarian problem which we face today.

Each day was like opening up a new present. In two occasions I experienced a surprising yet a delightful reunion when a woman came up to me and told me she had known me as a baby. What I’ve realized through meeting many people and having many people take care of us is the importance of communicating, understanding, and connecting; to make a friend. I strongly felt there lies the foundation for peace.

Dan from the Brethren Volunteer Service and his wife, Wendy: Thank you for your overwhelming generosity. Through our nightly conversations, you gave me many new perspectives. Bagels, bacon, to the best coffee. You made my little American dream come true. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to begin our trip.

Josie from Illinois Wesleyan: Thank you for organizing the wonderful Peace Conference that led to so many irreplaceable connections and learning. I sensed a deep gratitude and importance of growing through learning. I loved talking with you about issues surrounding us as human beings and as women.

Tanya from Wilmington: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to experience and to ponder peace from various perspectives. I admire your quiet strength that continues to burn inside your gentleness. And thank you for all the food that were probably-the-best-ever-I’ve-had in-the-states.

Thank you also to the Snyders for helping me see the need to consider the present issues through our past history. Special thanks to the delicious homemade desserts and the extra bacon.

Alice from Bluffton: Reuniting with you after I don’t know how many years and spending your 89th birthday with you was amazing beyond words. Thank you for pouring love on me unchangingly since I was little and even now. Unsurprisingly, surrounding you was a community built on love and it felt as though I caught a glimpse of what peace needs to be founded on.

To my fellow PAX members: Thank you for every moment spent supporting each other with our quirky personalities and for all the laughter.

Lastly, I’d like to send my deepest thank you to the people at WFC who have always watched over me and for making me a part of this incredible opportunity.

Picture: I’m sorry the picture is out of focus. These are my 3 fun travel companions taking a walk and singing rather loudly into the woods!

Copyright © NPO World Friendship Center 2018 All Rights Reserved

Yu-ai Friendship
Newsletter of the World Friendship Center, NPO

Thinking back on the 2018 PAX Tour To America：
Peace from a True Spirit of Volunteerism

Miho Nishii

I joined PAX Tour to America from September 17^th to September 28^th as one of 4 PAX members. We visited 4 places: Elgin and Bloomington – Normal in Illinois; Wilmington and Bluffton in Ohio, to make presentations about peace.

The experiences of having met a lot of people with volunteer spirits in America changed my understanding of volunteerism . I learned that family units in America are open to society and people naturally work for the community as volunteers. It seemed that volunteering work are not hard obligations but delightful opportunities for each of volunteers to help people with needs. They seemingly valued individuality.

I was invited to make my presentations, including short self-introductions, at least 12 times in all during the tour. Although I was not sure if I could make my presentations understood because of my clumsy English, I was very impressed that the people I met in America tried to sincerely listen to and understand my presentations about peace.  Thinking back on my presentations, each opportunity was so precious to me, even if I was not satisfied with my poor English.

As the length of this paper is limited, I am not able to introduce every presentation and what happened in this tour, but here I would like to write about the very impressive one, the panel at Illinois Wesleyan University on September 22^nd.. It was so impressive because during that 2-hour panel I had been so nervous, had felt uneasy and had been very moved by the presentations of the other panelists. I was aware that the other panelists could speak near-native English and had been very experienced with peace issues. On the other hand, I believed that the heart of my idea about peace (the title was “the Spirit of the Memorial Cenotaph for Atomic Bomb Victims” ) was connected to theirs and those of each of the persons working for world peace.

About 30 minutes before the panel was finished , one Chinese man from the audience had very strong comment on my presentation, blaming the Japanese people for atrocities in China during WWⅡ. I apologized him for the Japan’s atrocities and explained the idea of my presentation, quoting the words of the former Hiroshima Mayer Shinzo Hamai: “There is no winner and no loser in a war. The cenotaph exists for mourning the dead and taking an oath not to bring about wars”.

I don’t know if my response was persuasive to him and I also hope my response was understood by the audience. I remember the moment when I was relieved to hear the clapping of hands from the audience.

I appreciate all the people who were involved in organizing this PAX tour and those who hosted us PAX members for giving us this precious opportunity.

Copyright © NPO World Friendship Center 2018 All Rights Reserved

Yu-ai Friendship
Newsletter of the World Friendship Center, NPO

American PAX report

Youko Mimura

I applied to join American PAX at the end of June. It was privilege for me to be chosen as one of the participants and to have such a precious experience. We visited four places and met many people who welcomed us. I think that the warm welcome was only thanks to the years of relationship cultivated between each person or group and the WFC.

I deeply appreciate the organizers and WFC committee members for working kindly to preparing our trip and give accurate information. I also thank each host family for accepting us, and making delicious breakfasts!

The first place we visited was Elgin, northwest of Chicago. A director of this church, Dan Mcfadden hosted us and gave us a guided tour here. The headquarters of Brethren Church is here, their publishing department is here, too. The book “Sea-going Cowboys ” was published here.

One of the works they undertake here is Brethren Volunteer Service. After a couple weeks of training, volunteers are dispatched all over the place, in the USA and overseas. The WFC co-directors, Dannie and Barb were also sent to Hiroshima from here.

In Illinois Wesleyan University, we participated in the International Peace Conference, held over International Peace Day on September 20, 21, and 22. Josie, one of the interns at the WFC last June, was a leading organizer for this conference. We visited several classes from the first day soon after we arrived there. In each class, after we introduced ourselves, students asked us some questions related to Hiroshima and the atomic bomb. It was a good chance for us to know how they think about A-bombing. In this university, we saw that students learned seriously about Hiroshima. But those questions were not so easy for me to answer smoothly without preparation. I felt sorry about my poor English.

My presentation here was held from 6.30 in Turlfer room, with dinner and a small panel discussion. Hank Campbell was the following speaker panelist who works to make bridges between Jewish Israelis and Arab Palestinians. When I was nervous, my PAX pals sat in the front row and said they were there for me. That helped me relax. During this trip, I had a lot of experiences with the other participants – joking, singing, chatting and discussing. In my presentation, I talked about the WFC and some victims of the A-bomb in my husband’s family.

In Wilmington, we visited Tanya Maus at the Peace Resource Center. In the evening we were welcomed by local people with a potluck party. I felt this community has a close relationship with college. I learned that the number of Japanese books related to nuclear here is the largest outside Japan.

At Bluffton University, director Louise Mattheu gave us a campus tour and showed us some art on the campus. I felt their strong will to convey peace through the arts. There was also a cozy library in the Peace Center, the Lion and Lamb, where schoolchildren learn about peace through the “Sadako” or “Swords to Plowshares” stories. Our presentations were held in this center. Because one of the organizers, Alice Ramseyer, announced this through the local newspaper, many people in the local community people came, as well as a few students of this university.

They seemed to learn about Hiroshima and the bomb. Most people we met through this PAX visit were relatively knowledgeable about Hiroshima. Still, though, the U.S. is one of the nations which possesses a large amount of arms, especially nuclear weapons. It might have been a small step for me to join PAX, but connecting with each other makes us stronger.

Thank you again for all the people I met in the U.S.A and the WFC.

The Lion and Lamb Peace Arts in Bluffton University

Copyright © NPO World Friendship Center 2018 All Rights Reserved