Port of Call LAST UPDATE September 26, 2009
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September 9, 2009 Da Nang, Viet Nam – Finding Common Ground for a Peaceful Future
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Hibakusha Niimi Hirosou and Hakariya Michio examine a tunnel used by Viet Cong at the home of Trung, a former Viet Cong guerilla.
On the eve of Independence Day celebrations in Viet Nam, Da Nang was covered in national flags and buzzing with activity when Peace Boat arrived in port on September 1. Today, the city is undergoing a period of rapid development the humble fishing town has ambitions of being the next Singapore but it is Da Nang’s past that captured the imagination of Peace Boat participants on the second leg of the Hibakusha Project for a Nuclear-Free World.

Da Nang was the site of the largest United States base in Southern Viet Nam during the Viet Nam War and is also classified as a “Dioxin Hotspot” because of the use and storage of the toxic Agent Orange Herbicide in the area.

On their tour of Da Nang, ten Hibakusha (victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and three Japanese high school students first visited the home of Trung, a former Viet Cong guerilla. At his home, participants were able to examine a hiding hole used by Viet Cong during the War. The fighters would enter through a hole in Trung’s living room and crawl through a tunnel about ten meters long to exit in an adjoining field.
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Peace Boat’s Kawasaki Akira (right) greets Director of the Da Nang Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (DAVA) Ngyuen Thi Hien.
The group then visited two rehabilitation centers for victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin in Da Nang. The centers are run by the Da Nang Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (DAVA). At the centers, the Hibakusha were able to see first-hand the long-term effects of the herbicide some 40 years after it was first introduced to the area. Children cared for at the centers were both physically and mentally challenged.

Peace Boat has had a longstanding relationship with DAVA and recently donated USD 12,000 for the construction of a third rehabilitation center. The money was raised through Peace Boat’s Change for Change project, which collects leftover currency from participants when the ship leaves a port.
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Hibakusha Ono Mitsuko, who is also a writer and illustrator, helps a very intrigued young resident at the rehabilitation center fold his paper crane.
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These residents show off their Orizuru necklace.
The symbol of the Hibakusha Project is the paper origami crane - called Orizuru in Japanese. The Hibakusha and high school students who visited the centers were able to overcome the language barrier by sharing this traditional Japanese art form. There were smiles all around as the children of Da Nang put their fingers to work under the guidance of the Hibakusha.
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Hibakusha Nishioka Hiroshi (center) paints a picture of anguish and destruction in Nagasaki. He is assisted by fellow Hibakusha Konishi Shinichi (left) and Osaki Shizuko along with Peace Boat’s Kobayashi Shingo.
Just before lunch, Hibakusha Nishioka Hiroshi recounted his experience of the Nagasaki bombing. Mr Nishioka, who was a junior high school student in 1945, spoke of a blinding white flash and of being knocked unconscious by the force of the blast. Addressing Viet Namese media and onlookers who had gathered at the rehabilitation centre, Mr Nishioka said that just like Agent Orange, the effects of radiation from the bombings endured long after victims were first exposed. He said Japanese and Viet Namese citizens “should work together to abolish such formidable weapons”.
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Hibakusha Hakariya Michio (right) shares his experience of Nagasaki with GPPAC members (from left) Victoria Carreras, Samara Papieva and Ana Bourse.
The Hibakusha Project members were joined at the center by representatives of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), of which Peace Boat serves as the Regional Secretariat for Northeast Asia. The members, who are participating in a media training programme on the 67th voyage, also spent time with the children and listened to the testimonies shared by the Hibakusha. After reflecting on her experience in the Balkan conflict , GPPAC member Maja Vitas from Serbia extended the call for nuclear disarmament to a call to end all armed conflict.
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Participants were given a thorough introduction to the remnants of conflict in Viet Nam on their tour of Da Nang. Here they examine Viet Namese artillery at the Ho Chi Minh Museum.
The programme in Da Nang, ended with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The museum showcases Viet Namese resistance efforts against foreign powers throughout its history. For Peace Boat participants, the weapons on display were sobering illustrations of how much money and energy has been invested in the destruction of human life. After the tour, one Hibakusha remarked that such displays of military might in the face of all the destruction they cause were pointless.