November 18, 2008: Regional Training (Day 2)
Training Report - Leadership Development Course 2008
AM: Visit to Peace Memorial Museum, Peace Memorial Park
In the morning the participants visited the Peace Memorial Museum located inside the Peace
Memorial Park.
When they arrived, five Peace Volunteers were already waiting for them at the entrance.
They were wearing fluorescent yellowish green windbreakers which attracted people's attention.
Peace Volunteers belong to the museum and they show the visitors around the museum and the park and
they also appeal to the visitors for the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of the world
peace.
The museum kindly made a special arrangement so that the participants with visual impairment
could touch and feel objects such as bottles and nails melted by the strong heat of the atomic bomb.
While going around the museum, the Peace Volunteers gave a keen explanation on the exhibitions and
also answered the questions raised by the participants.
Thanks to Peace Volunteers, the participants could see what happened to Hiroshima 63 years ago.
After the lunch the participants walked around the Peace Memorial Park.
The cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims is inscribed with the words ”Let all the souls here
rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.“
The stone chest in the center holds the registry of the names of persons who died from the bombing,
regardless of nationality.
The participants then saw a statue of a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to the A-bomb at the
age two, contracted leukemia ten years later and passed away.
(
http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/kids/KPSH_E/hiroshima_e/sadako_e/sadako18_e.html)
Thousand cranes were folded by people all over the world with hearty prayers for the peace, and the
participants were impressed with so many of them displayed around the statue of Sadako.
The famous A-Bomb Dome was registered as the UNESCO World Heritage in 1996.
The dome is a witness of the disaster of the first atomic bombing in history, and also a symbol of
the vow to pursue the abolition of nuclear weapons and enduring peace.
It was a sunny autumn day and the participants enjoyed the walk around the park.
This is also a season for school study trips in Japan and so the park was very busy with many
visitors.
Several times the participants were asked by students to write peace messages.
