4 Thursday, August 3, 2017 Island Beat Hawaii Tribune-Herald PEACE From page 2 bomb on Hiroshima. This act would result in the end of World War II, but the effects were devastating. A blast equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT destroyed 4 square miles of the Japanese city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Tens of thousands would die in the weeks that followed from radiation poisoning and other wounds. A second atomic bomb killed 40,000 people in Nagasaki just a few days later. As part of the “Voice of Hiroshima: Peace Before and After the A-bomb” event, Honda plans to present a story about why the people of Hiroshima did not hate the American people, even after the bombing. “The day of the first A-bomb in Hiroshima made us realize what war will mean and how peace is important and needs to be nurtured,” Honda says. “We need to hear the voice of victims to understand the value of peace whenever memorial days come. Aug. 6 is one of those memorial days.” This is an important event to discuss, he says. “It is different from an earthquake or tsunami experience,” Honda says. “A-bomb survivors could not understand what happened to them (at that moment of impact). We will also watch a short movie that will show how the A-bomb changed everything in a moment.” Honda says there were many anti-Japanese sentiments in the U.S. in the mid-1920s, but one man, Dr. Sidney Lewis Gulick, tried to minimize tensions between the countries by sending American dolls to all the elementary schools in Japan. “He believed that this kind of doll exchange would foster friendship and peace between Japanese and American children,” Honda says. “He sent 12,739 American dolls, and 2.6 million children in the U.S. participated. After World War II, only 300 of these American dolls were found in elementary schools and kindergartens in Japan.” This remembrance event has taken place since 2008. “We want people to see how a small idea could become a big movement for peace,” Honda adds. “We also hope that people will think about how we promote peace. … There are many ways: tourism, education, cultural events and exchanges.” Honda says he organizes this event so people can remember what an atomic bomb is and how peace movements were created before and after the weapon. “Here in Hilo, we have seen many peace movements such as several sister relationships between Hawaii and Japanese cities, the Peace Festival in Honokaa and Kona, the 100th anniversary of Lili‘uokalani Gardens and the 45th anniversary of the Urasenke Japanese tea ceremony club in Hawaii,” Honda says. “Even remembrances of the Pearl Harbor event have been focusing more on peace rather than war. We hope that people in Hilo are interested in what happened in Hiroshima before and after the A-bomb.” For more information, call 345-4321. Courtesy photos Japanese children gave a Japanese doll to American children in N.Y. Peace doll, Merry, from Hiroshima.
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