Special Report LAST UPDATE September 15, 2008
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September 11, 2008 Hibakusha Project Launch – A Voyage of Remembrance, Unity and Hope.
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Hibakusha and Peace Boat staff assembled at the launch at of the Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World.
On its 25th anniversary, Peace Boat has marked the occasion with a truly historic project: inviting 102 Hibakusha--survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—to join the 63rd Global Voyage. In an unprecedented move, the “Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World – Peace Boat Hibakusha Project” will allow these participants will travel to 22 ports in 20 countries over the next 103 days to share their testimonies with people from around the world and call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Through organising these testimonies and related education programmes, Peace Boat is aiming to revitalise the worldwide civil society movement for nuclear disarmament and the total abolition of nuclear weapons. “Nowadays we are witnessing nuclear proliferation in countries like Iran, India and North Korea. More and more countries are saying, ‘Hey, we want nuclear weapons. We want to become a great power with nuclear weapons’,” said Akira Kawasaki, the director of the project. “But we know the vast majority of the people of these countries don’t know exactly what nuclear weapons are. They have never heard any stories; they haven’t heard any testimonies from the very direct experience of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So by having this dialogue we can directly pass this experience to the people of these countries,” he added.
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Setsuko Thurlow expresses her hopes for the voyage at the press conference in Yokohama.
At the crowded press conference at Yokohama Bay on the day of the 63rd Voyage departure, eight Hibakusha from Japan, Korea, Canada, Australia and Brazil each outlined the importance of the project and their hopes for the voyage. Setsuko Thurlow, who was 13 when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and in 2007 received the Order of Canada for her service to anti-nuclear campaigning, explained “I don’t tell my stories for sympathy; we are all responsible for the world. We are passing messages around the world.” As time slips away from the remaining survivors and the world begins to forget, each Hibakusha at the press conference emphasised the importance of the timing of the project. Eritrean Ambassador Estifanos Afeworki summarised, “This is a very dangerous moment for all of us. So this moment [the Hibakusha project] is particularly significant. This is a strong message to the world and a welcome noise to make.”
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Akira Kawasaki outlines the necessity of the Hibakushas' testimony in our current global climate
The project is being supported by various organisations, including the the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Center, the Nagasaki Foundation for the Promotion of Peace, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, the Japan Confederation of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hidankyo), the International Peace Bureau and the Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War.
Messages of support have also been received from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Jody Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who believes the project will serve to “remind the world of its moral, legal and human responsibility to demand their Governments abolish these suicidal and genocidal weapons of destruction.” David Krieger, president of the Nuclear Age Foundation, also sent his support, saying, “This wonderful project will raise the profile of the Hibakusha throughout the world and will expand the range of their voices. It is a project of hope”
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Hibakusha participants meet with Erika Bagnarello, a Costa Rican filmmaker who will be documenting their historic voyage.
At the onboard launch of the project, Mr Kawasaki explained that the Hibakusha will participate in a number of exchange programmes at the ports the voyage will visit, and reiterated how important this was in spreading the testimony of the Hibakusha around the world. At their first stop in Da Nang, Viet Nam, the Hibakusha will meet and exchange testimony with those affected by Agent Orange, a powerful defoliant indiscriminately dropped on civilians during the Viet Nam that causes birth defects. Just as the effects of radiation were felt by later generations of Japanese citizens, effects of Agent Orange continue to mark thousands of Vietnamese people a quarter century after the war ended.

Mr Kawasaki also explained that many of these 102 Hibakusha have never publically given testimony before and urged participants to help them contribute their voice to the world. He called for participants to make a space for communication. “For someone to testify, someone must listen,” he said. “We have learnt so many things through horrific experiences--now it is time for peace. No more Hiroshimas, No more Nagasakis, No more Hibakusha. We must spread this message to the world.”
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Kwak Kwihoon and Morita Takashi share a warm moment marking the unity of the Hibakusha project.
His sentiments were echoed by Morita Takashi, who having experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima went on to become Director of the Brazil Association for the Victims of Atomic Bombings. Mr Morita proudly stated, “We Hibakusha should try to change the world. Together we should tell the world. I want to continue our fight. I would like to do my work joining hands with other Hibakusha.” This theme of unity was continued by South Korean Hibakusha Kwak Kihoon, who believes, “No matter what happens while we are alive, we have to work together to abolish nuclear weapons. We must join hands.”

As Peace Boat enters the first leg of its historic voyage towards a nuclear-free world, it carries 102 beacons of hope, unity and peace. As Mr Kawasaki concludes, “This is a very historic moment because this 100 Hibakusha project is happening for the first time in human history, and maybe for the last time. We must make this project truly meaningful.”