ANT-Hiroshima

Obituary: Keiji Nakazawa, 1939-2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 05:48:00 +0000

"Our generation must continue to tell of the horrors of atomic bombs and war."
Keiji Nakazawa, 1939-2012

Keiji Nakazawa

A-bomb survivor Keiji Nakazawa, creator of the Barefoot Gen manga series, passed away on December 19th. He was 73 years old and had been suffering from lung cancer.

Click here to read the rest of this Keiji Nakazawa obituary.

Paper Crane Journey Translated into Chinese

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:21:00 +0000

For a couple of weeks during August and September ANT-Hiroshima took on a Chinese student, Dong Yanan, as office intern.

While working at ANT-Hiroshima Dong-san translated Paper Crane Journey into Chinese. Dong-san says that she made the translation in the hope of strengthening ties between Japan and China.

Read the full report here.

The Struggle For Girls Education: Shot In The Head For Going To School

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:06:00 +0000

Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai was born on 12th July 1997. She is a school student in Pakistan, and lives in the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. That is a part of Pakistan where the Taliban are still strong and want to ban girls from attending school.

On 9th October this year Malala was confronted by Taliban gunmen who stopped and boarded her bus as she was on her way home from school and was shot in the head and neck.

This is Malala's story.

Japanese "Garden of Peace" Opens At An Australian Elementary School

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:15:00 +0000

Entrance to the "Garden of Peace"

On 19th October 2012 West Lakes Shore Elementary School in the Western Adelaide Region of Australia opened a Japanese style "Garden of Peace".

At the end of last year the school was granted a two million yen budget by the Department of Education, which was devoted to the costs of raw materials for the construction of the garden.

Read our report on the garden here.

Annual Revue Of The Basic Health Unit in Shamshatu, Peshawar, Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:33:00 +0000

A brief outline of some of the key points extracted from the annual report of the Basic Health Unit (BHU) in Shamshatu in the village of Baghbanan in the Peshawar district of Pakistan has been uploaded to the ANT-Hiroshima English blog. The period covered is from 1st July 2011 to 30th June 2012.

Basic Health Unit, Shamshatu

Read about the annual report here.

"Bilingual Monkeys": Ideas & Inspiration For Raising Bilingual Children

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 08:43:00 +0000

Hiroshima-based blogger Adam Beck has recently launched an exciting new blog called Bilingual Monkeys to help mixed-heritage families raise their children in a bilingual context.

The homepage of the Bilingual Monkeys blog

Who is Bilingual Monkeys for?

Although Bilingual Monkeys is based on Adam's experience in an English/Japanese household living in Japan, the blog is aimed at "any parent anywhere aiming to boost the language ability of a bilingual child."

That includes:

English-speaking parents living in non-English-speaking countries.
Parents of other languages nurturing the English ability of their kids.
Parents promoting second languages other than English.

Read our review of Bilingual Monkeys on our new blog.

ANT-Hiroshima

Interview With Ari Beser, Grandson Of Enola Gay & Bock's Car Radar Specialist, Jacob Beser

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 06:18:00 +0000

On 6th August 2012, the 67th ceremony to mark the atom bombing of Hiroshima was attended by Ari Beser, the grandson of Jacob Beser, who was on board the Enola Gay when the bomb was dropped. Also present at the ceremony was Clifton Truman Daniel, the grandson of President Truman.

Beser and Truman laid wreaths at the cenotaph in Hiroshima's Peace Park, “to honor the dead, to not forget, and to make sure that we never let this happen again."

In the last section of this news report, Ari Beser talks about the motive for his visit:

Ari Beser later agreed to answer some questions about his perspective as the grandson of one of the air crew, and in the light of his visit to Japan, where he met several a-bomb survivors.

ANT-Hiroshima

Progress Report Of The Basic Health Unit, Shamshatu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 03:39:00 +0000

Here is the latest report received by ANT-Hiroshima concerning the Basic Health Unit in Shamshatoo, now known as Health Centre Baghbanan.

The project is currently being overseen by the Abaseen Foundation and is co-funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation and Proloka. Its purpose is to provide quality medical treatment to the marginalized people in the target area of Baghbanan.

ANT-Hiroshima

Peace Seeds Growing In The First Japanese Garden In Siberia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:13:00 +0000

Seeds from plants that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima have been planted in Siberia, at the Irkutsk State University Botanical Garden.

The seeds of aogiri, camphor, ginko, holly, kurogane and persimmon trees which survied the A-bombing of Hiroshima were gathered in 2011 and sent to Irkutsk State University by Green Legacy Hiroshima and were planted in the spring of 2012.

Full report here.

One Day In Hiroshima: An Oral History - Now On The IPPNW Website In Memory of Dr Shizuteru Usui

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:35:00 +0000

Dr. Shizuteru Usui

On May 9th 2012 Dr. Shizuteru Usui, president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), passed away.

On 6th August 1945 Shizuteru Usui, who was then an eight year old boy, was near his home in Ushita-honmachi, 2.3 kilometers north east of the hypocenter when the a-bomb exploded.

We posted an obituary on our blog.

ANT-Hiroshima

Peace Crane Center Launches At Zamboanga City High School, Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 02:49:00 +0000

The Peace Crane Center Project is an initiative under the peace education of the organization that provides access to peace education materials and other related resources and serving as a peace hub of students and faculty as well as groups and institutions within Zamboanga City.

The project was conceived after the a group of twenty three young Filipinos attended a Post-War Reconstruction and Peace Building Training of Filipino Youths conference, sponsored by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in Hiroshima in 2011.

The attendees formed an informal support group called "Familia Sumimasen" together with Tomoko Watanabe of ANT-Hiroshima.

Full report here.

Nagasaki Day Commemorated At A School In Assam, India

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 01:41:00 +0000

Anup Sarmah is the coordinator of the Karuna Trust, a health development charity, visited ANT-Hiroshima in September 2009 while in Japan on a trip organized by the Asian Health Institute Nagoya.

Anup sent us a report about how a school in the Sonitpur district of Assam marked Nagasaki Day this year.

Mayor of Hiroshima Reads Peace Declaration In English

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:39:00 +0000

On the evening of August 6th 2012, the 67th anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima, Mayor Kazumi Matsui read the Hiroshima Peace Declaration in English, in Peace Park, just across the river from the Atomic Bomb Dome.

The atom bomb was dropped at 8.15am on 6th August 1945, and the reading of the Peace Declaration timed to commence at 8.15am American Central Time.

Tomoko Watanabe of ANT-Hiroshima introduced the Mayor and thanked him afterwards. The speech was filmed and posted on YouTube and elsewhere to convey Hiroshima's message of peace to the English speaking world.

6th August 1945: Hiroshima - 11th March 2011: Fukushima

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:40:00 +0000

In March of this year, two French film makers, Frédéric & Tomas, came to Japan to make a "web documentary" in which they listen to Japanese people and try to understand their feelings about nuclear power and nuclear weapons. More.

ANT-Hiroshima

Basic Health Unit in Shamshatu Receives Medical Equipment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 07:33:00 +0000

We are pleased to report that the Abaseen Foundation, which oversees the administration of the Basic Health Unit in Shamshatu, 25 kilometers southeast of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, has received funds to purchase medical equipment for the health unit. Report here.

A Photo Report of the Suimasen Family Peace Training Activities In The Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 07:26:00 +0000

Here is a photo report of the 10-day Peace Training Programme for Young Leaders took place at the Ifugao State University in The Philippines from 7th to 16th February this year.

We reported the event in a previous blog post titled Hiroshima Nagasaki Exhibition At Mindanao so in today's post we'd like to show you some photos of some of the people who took part in some of the other activities.

ANT-Hiroshima

Hiroshima Groups Use Kamishibai To Tell Fukushima Victim's Story

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:57:00 +0000

In a recent article published on the Asahi Shinbun website, Miki Morimoto reports on how two Hiroshima-based groups are cooperating in the use of kamishibai to tell the stories of some of the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011.

What is Kamishibai?

ANT-Hiroshima

Pinning Hopes On NHK

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:17:00 +0000

Submitted to ANT-Hiroshima by Elizabeth Baldwin

It’s wise to be cautious mentioning radiation if you are a visitor to Fukushima Prefecture. Questions asked feel like salt on a wound, smothering the stalwart, brave energy of recovery. Since radiological dangers are mysterious and impossible to calculate, why depress people needlessly? No one needs to tell me that people need cheerful encouragement to deal with job loss, smashed houses, and economic depression.

A year of upheaval and displacement has left deep scars. Full report here.

Cherry Blossom Brings Hope To Fukushima

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:37:00 +0000

Senior advisor at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in Hiroshima, Nassrine Azimi travelled to Fukushima as part of a Hiroshima-based fact-finding group to assess the current situation. Read the report here.

ANT-Hiroshima

No Easy Path For Fukushima Parents

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:12:00 +0000

Submitted to ANT-Hiroshima by Elizabeth Baldwin

After the Daiichi No.1 Plant disaster, 140,000 people left Fukushima’s coastal communities or, in some cases, the whole region.

Many parents who stayed put hunkered down to educate themselves about radiation. Protect the Children associations formed around the region. Members shared information on contamination levels in food; they mapped the hot spots; their websites tackled questions about how tolive in an irradiated environment.

Chitarkari & Banyans- the Pursuit of Identity

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:01:00 +0000

Fauzia Minallah, author and illustrator of the children's peace education book, Sadako's Prayer, has recently published Chitarkari & Banyans - The Pursuit of Identity.

"Chitarkari" is the ancient art of slate engravings which were used to decorate tombs in the Gangar mountain region of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier.

In Chitarkari & Banyans Fauzia explores the roots of her creative identity in her own past and the now threatened cultural diversity of Pakistan.

Fauzia has graciously given us her permission to publish an extract from Chitarkari & Banyans.

Sources

Funkorchildart.com
Globaltimesmagazine.com

ANT-Hiroshima

Great East Japan Earthquake One Year On: We Won't Forget That Day

noreply@blogger.com (ANT-Hiroshima) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:57:00 +0000

On 11th March 2012 people all over Japan marked the one year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In Hiroshima, a commemorative 3 minute video was made of the event, which you can view here.

Voices From Fukushima 3: I desperately want my children to live where they can run freely.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:00:00 +0000

After the earthquake, everything was in a shambles, but we expected things to come back to normal after the power came on and the water started running. But about ten days later the children’s school told us to keep them inside due to radioactivity. If they had to go out, we should dress them in mask, gloves, coat and cap; we should wash their hands frequently. But we had no water from the pipes to wash with.... Continued here.

Voices From Fukushima 2: Radiation Had Seeped Into Every Space That Connects Us With Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The March 11 earthquake shook our house terribly, but by dusk, we’d picked up the mess. We felt independent because we had a generator, our own well, a garden, and a wood stove.

By evening, we knew that something was very wrong... continued here

Voices From Fukushima 1: Yayoi Watanabe Speaks About Fears Arising From the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0000

It’s frightening to breathe. It’s dangerous to go outside. When we do go out, we wear masks. We wear long sleeves even in summer. Doors have to stay shut, always. Of course, children no longer frolic in the woods or play in the dirt, even in my town, which is located 60 kilometers from the Daiichi Plant. Continued