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Peace Boat, in collaboration with Korean NPO Green Foundation for the
second year running, are organizing a voyage this winter titled 'Peace& Green Boat 2006' to build a trust that is independent of politics, and
to create an 'East Asian Bio-community' built upon peace and
environmental sustainability.
A total of 600 participants will gather from both Japan and South Korea,
to spend 15 days together, exploring the Asia region together aboard M/V
Fujimaru. Peace & Green Boat began in the summer of 2005 to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the end of WW2. This is the largest scale Japan-South
Korea exchange project to date, and will continue to be active over the
coming 10 years.
Even now, more than 60 years after the end of WW2 there are tensions
between the Korean Peninsula and Japan rooted in various unresolved
issues. The effects of this frigid relationship on security, the economy
and civil society cannot be overlooked in this day and age where East
Asia is working towards consolidating, and building closer international
relations. Especially in the environmental field, cooperation across
borders is imperative to curb the environmental destruction that is
accompanying the rapid economic development in this region. |
| 57th Voyage Report |
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| Participants onboard the second Peace and Green Boat |
December 27, 2006
57th Voyage: The Second ‘Peace and Green Boat’ Sets Sail
Peace Boat, in collaboration with Korean NPO Green Foundation for the second year running, organized a 15 day regional voyage titled 'Peace and Green Boat 2006' to build a stronger relationship between the two nations irrespective of politics, and to create an 'East Asian Bio-community' on the basis of peace and environmental sustainability.
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| Guest artist, entertainer and educator Kim Chang Haeng, ethnic Korean born in Japan, transcending national borders and identities |
A total of 500 participants, half from Japan and the half from South Korea, explored the Asian region together aboard the M/V Fujimaru. Peace & Green Boat began in the summer of 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of WW2.
Even now, more than 60 years after the end of WW2 there are tensions between the Korean Peninsula and Japan ingrained in various complicated and unresolved issues.
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| In Hakata, participants examine the story of Korean people taken to Japan as forced labor |
To commence the voyage there was a one-day call in Hakata, on the southern island of Kyushu, Japanese and Korean participants joined together to take part in study and exchange programs on issues of ecology and historical recognition. One group met with local environmental NGOs who are fighting to save the area's tidal mud flats, home to many species of birds, from land reclamation and development projects.
A second group, in an extremely emotional day, traced the history and the brutal experiences of the Korean people who were brought to Hakata as forced labourers during the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea. It was the first time for many of the Japanese participants to learn in-depth about the suffering of the Korean forced labourers in Japan. The day’s experience was discussed onboard in joint workshops.
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December 16, Hong Kong.
History does not always define a nation and its’ people but it surely helps shape them. Most people’s perception of Hong Kong is tied up in the idea of great shopping and fantastic food. While this is certainly true, it is the 550 year history that participants were given an insight to at this port. Guest historian, Tim Koh, took participants to various national sites to explain their significance. At a public cemetery, Koh explained how history can be traced from looking at the dates and names of people during each era.
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| Participants campaigning for environmental protection in Viet Nam |
December 18, Cailan, Viet Nam.
Cailan is the closest port to Halong Bay and it was the first time Peaceboat visited this particular region of Viet Nam. The increasing numbers of visitors from the tourism industry along this coastline is taking its toll on the environment. Participants engaged in cultural exchange with the Vietnamese Youth Union and participated in the ‘Keep Halong Clean’ campaign followed by a night festival.
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| Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese cultural festival |
Some participants opted to join a one night home stay experience with a local family while others were on a study program where they learned about Vietnam’s tormented past in relation to the civil war. Another group visited an Agent Orange survivor’s rehabilitation center and heard a speech from a survivor as well as visiting the children that live in that facility.
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| Learning about ecology in the Philippines |
December 22, Subic, Philippines.
This is the site where the former US military base, the largest of its kind in Asia at the time, and is now transformed into a commercial zone. At this site the US military left behind discarded weapons and striped the land of many natural resources. As a result the local community was left to deal with destruction that sometimes was a result of the misuse of these abandoned weapons. A ‘Peace and Green Concert’ was held on this site with banners reading ‘No Base! No Pollution!’ to emphasize the theme of this port of call.
Other special port activities included a visit to an organic farm, and an ecology tour in a tropical rainforest. The guide was an Aita, an indigenous community of this region, he lead the trek while explaining traditional survival techniques, identifying trees and plant species as well as explaining how these raw materials are used to make handicrafts and other goods.
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| Participants with Amano Fumiko, a Hibakusha from Hiroshima |
December 26, Busan, South Korea.
On this last leg of the voyage, Korean participants disembarked and the remaining participants, while returning to Hakata, Japan, listened to a lecture from Korean hibakusha (Nagasaki and Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors) about what their experience was like and how it differed from Japanese survivors.
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| A Korean Hibakusha speaks to participants |
In the region between Busan, Hakata and Hong Kong is where the nearly extinct spoon billed sandpiper bird flies over during seasonal migration. A highlight for these ports was the opportunity to get a glimpse of these birds and visit their wetlands as well as seeing how their natural habitat is being preserved and protected. For these migrating birds, the sky has no borders or boundaries; this was used as a metaphoric ideology for peace and freedom in the East Asian region.
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| Young participants from Korea in the onboard school program |
Also onboard, in a programme planned together with Kim Yong Taek, principle of the Tokchi Elementary School in Korea and a well respected poet, all 40 students of the school were on board. Students ranged between 6-12 years old added a fresh dynamic to the voyage. The students attended activities and workshops such as making recycled art or they learned juggling from Zainichi (ethnic Korean living in Japan) entertainer Kim Chang Haeng.
Overall it was a voyage of reconciliation and acceptance. Peace and Green Boat regional voyage has continued to be the largest Japan-South Korea exchange project to date and will continue to sail annually to strengthen East Asian ties. The next Peace and Green Boat is planned for July, 2007, Peace Boat’s 61st voyage for peace.
Text by Kathy Pham Do
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