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LAST UPDATE
October 28, 2007
Voyage Itinerary |
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. |
| 61st Voyage Report |
For the future of East Asia – “Peace and Green Boat” completes third voyage
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| The third Peace and Green Boat: Warm your heart, Cool the Earth |
Peace Boat's 61st Voyage (July 15 – 29, 2007)
Six hundred Japanese and Koreans returned at the end of July from Peace Boat's 61st voyage; a two-week trip to highlight the need for cooperation on regional environmental sustainability and security in East Asia.
The “Peace and Green Boat” voyage, the third to be carried out jointly between Peace Boat and the Korean NPO Green Foundation, travelled between Japan, far-East Russia and Korea tackling issues including global warming, energy resources, indigenous rights and regional reconciliation. The vessel, MV Fujimaru, departed from Yokohama in Japan and called at the ports of Hachinohe and Kushiro; Petropavlosk-Khamchatsky, Korsakov (Sakhalin) and Vladivostok in Russia; and Busan in Korea before returning to Japan's Moji.
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| Inside the Visitor Center at Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant |
STOP Reprocessing, LOVE Rokkasho
The voyage's main theme was STOP Reprocessing, LOVE Rokkasho, in reference to the nuclear reprocessing facility that has been operating in Rokkasho village since November 2006 despite the protests of local people and activists worldwide. Peace and Green Boat's call at the port of Hachinohe (July 17, 2007) was an opportunity for participants to view the facility and learn about its impact on the community and surrounding environment.
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| A fisherman in Tomari village demonstrates the traditional method of drying seaweed |
Besides taking the official tour of the reprocessing plant, participants visited the “Valley of Herbs and Flowers” which is farmed using ecological principles and without recourse to the use of nuclear energy. Others spent the day in the traditional fishing village of Tomari with the community leaders who have spent the past decade campaigning against the construction of the plant. A young Korean participant remarked “...This issue is not merely about being anti-nuclear, but it is about the rights of the community to be able to live as it chooses.”
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| STOP Reprocessing, LOVE Rokkasho concert onboard |
The day ended with locals and Peace and Green Boat participants joining together for a STOP Reprocessing, LOVE Rokkasho concert onboard featuring Korean Samulnori performers, local hip-hop artists North Empire and Sugizo, formerly of the Japanese pop band Luna-Sea.
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| Japanese, Korean and Ainu drummers take part in cultural exchange in Hokkaido |
Solidarity with Korea
The ship's final port of call in Busan, Korea enabled Peace and Green Boat's Japanese participants to reflect on two weeks spent with their Korean partners by examining aspects of the environmental, social and political realities of life in Korea.
While some groups witnessed NGO efforts for wildlife and bird preservation on local wetlands, others discussed Korea's 1970s and 1980s democratization movement with local activists, gaining a unique insight into the roots of Korea's strong civil society activism today.
Perhaps the most significant activity, however, was the visit to meet with some of the Korean survivors of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tens of thousands of Koreans fell victim to the bombs. These Halmoni (Korean name for elderly woman) and Haraboji (Korean name for elderly man) are still struggling to receive compensation for their injuries. Their stories, which moved many participants to tears, were a sober reminder of the need to recognize the injustices of Japan and Korea's shared pasts in order to move forward into the future.
The day ended in a friendship and solidarity baseball match between Peace Boat's “Article 9” baseball team and a local side.
Other programs
Other programs included cultural exchange programs with the Ainu indigenous people in Hokkaido; eco-tourism and environmental sustainability in Kamchatka; energy resources and the plight of ethnic Koreans who were forcibly removed to Sakhalin by the Japanese government after WWII and are still unable to return in Sakhalin; and a cultural exchange and examination of the situation of modern Russia in Vladivostok.
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The “Peace and Green Boat” project, now in its third year, will continue for a total of ten years with the goal of facilitating cross-border grassroots communication and cooperation, looking at both the past and the future not as distinct experiences, but as a shared heritage and responsibility to build a more secure and sustainable East Asian region.
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