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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE June 20, 2008
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| April 28, 2008 |
Participants Reflect on the Peace Boat 60th Global Voyage |
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| The sun sets dramatically over the Pacific Ocean |
As the ship departed from the port of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, bound at last for the Northern Hemisphere and Japan, 60th voyage participants took time to reflect on the last three and a half months at sea. The voyage brought different opportunities and experiences for different people, who in turn contributed to the voyage in different ways. The unique onboard community and the welcoming, education-oriented atmosphere make Peace Boat what it is: a floating peace village open to everyone. |
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| Junji hopes to continue to play soccer in Japan after he returns home |
Each participant has a different reason for joining Peace Boat, but few as unique as 60th voyage participant Junji Sugai. When Junji was injured seriously in a traffic accident when he was sixteen years old, an uncle played a very important role in encouraging him to keep up with his rehabilitation after the accident. Unfortunately, this uncle died in a diving accident in the Seychelles archipelago while participating in a Peace Boat voyage several years ago. Junji wanted to join the 60th voyage to visit the Seychelles and place a flower at the site of his uncle’s accident, and finally completing this task on January 31st during the ship’s call to Seychelles filled him with a great sense of happiness. Onboard, Junji organized events to discuss and reconsider the meaning of being handicapped, and also played soccer nearly every morning on the ship’s sports deck. Junji says that on Peace Boat, he can play soccer with people without worrying his physical handicap. |
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Performing zeni-daiko, a traditional art practiced in Shimane Prefecture that involves spinning and tossing a pair of hollow batons filled with coins to the rhythm of a traditional song |
Participant Toshiko Murakami joined the 60th voyage because she was attracted by the voyage’s Southern Hemisphere route. She had joined the 49th voyage in 2005, which called to primarily Northern Hemisphere ports, but was particularly interested in going south around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope and South America’s Cape Horn. On the 60th voyage, Ms Murakami was an active participant in self-organized events and also enjoyed the various onboard guest lectures. She joined Unit II of Peace Boat’s onboard Global University, where she studied the effects of climate change in a class of 35 students of all ages and various backgrounds. She was motivated to join Global University because she hoped to learn something during the voyage that she could take home with her. |
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| Islands begin to come into view as the ship re-enters Japanese waters |
Another second-time Peace Boat participant on the 60th voyage was Satoshi Kato, who participated in Peace Boat’s 3rd voyage for peace in 1985. The 3rd voyage was a two-week regional voyage to Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, on a smaller ship with approximately 400 passengers. One of the major differences for Mr Kato between the two voyages was that while on the 3rd voyage he felt that there wasn’t enough time to get to know other participants, he has made several friends on the 60th voyage that he will stay in touch with after the voyage. On the 60th voyage Mr Kato worked in the ship’s Peace Boat Center as a volunteer staff member, a position he enjoyed because it allowed him to meet other participants and hear about onboard activities. |
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Satomi’s boyfriend Aki proposed to her as the ship sailed through Antarctic waters, and the two of them will be planning their wedding after returning to Japan |
Satomi Toyama, who worked as a pharmacist in Japan, spontaneously quit her job one day when she realized that she wasn’t living the kind of life that she wanted to live. Frustrated with life, she joined the 60th voyage to see the world with her own eyes, and to learn more about global issues concerning the environment, poverty and international conflict. Satomi took advantage of opportunities like studying with Global University onboard and visiting various nongovernmental organizations in ports. She helped organize a project to document waste disposal methods during port visits to different countries, and gave an onboard presentation of her findings at the end of the voyage. After returning to Japan, she hopes to share what she has learned during the voyage with children through an environmental education programme in Chiba Prefecture. Her priority is to find a job that has a positive economic and ecological effect on society, and hopes one day to work as an environmental consultant. |
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A Peace Boat global voyage affects each participant differently, but the friends made, experiences shared, and things learned during this 108-day circumnavigation of the earth will last long into the future for many 60th voyage participants, who after sharing their culture with the world will now return home, to share the culture of the world with their friends and family at home.
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| Reflections of the blue sky and milky white clouds tumble playfully across the glassy waters of the Pacific |
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