Hino City Peace Project Report Meeting for Fiscal Year 2025🕊️💫

This year, elementary and junior high school students visited Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Okinawa, where they reflected on peace with their families and shared their thoughts.

This year, marking the 80th anniversary of the war’s end, the children’s reflections on war and nuclear weapons came across more clearly than in previous years.

Particularly memorable was the story shared by a fourth-generation atomic bomb survivor, a young elementary school girl, and her mother.

America threatened their lives, yet it was also America that rebuilt the body scarred by keloids.

Though there was suffering and sorrow, they never forgot their gratitude.

Another boy, a elementary school student, chose not to rely on prepared text for his presentation and spoke entirely in his own words.

At the end, overcome with emotion, he said, “I am grateful for this precious experience,” and began to cry. I cried too.

Seeing such remarkable growth in these children reaffirms how vital it is to continue these programs.

As the number of those who lived through the war era dwindles, I truly felt this was an incredibly valuable and meaningful time to convey the preciousness of life to children who have lived only in peace.

Additionally, in Part 2: War Storytellers, we listened to the account of the Hirata family from August 15, 1945, through the end of September.

I was struck anew by how deeply ordinary daily life is a blessing, while the petty squabbles of each day felt utterly trivial.

I learned the preciousness of living each moment fully—discussing differences with others, cherishing every instant with family, and holding the thought that “tomorrow might never come.”

Once again, I express my deepest gratitude for being granted life, for living in this era alongside you all, and for the privilege of sharing these words with you.