Japanese Network of Museums for Peace, Newsletter December, 2004
Muse no. 12
http://ha1.seikyou.ne.jp/home/Shigeo.Nishimori/Muse12.htm

The Editorial Office: Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ritsumeikan University
56-1 Kita-machi, Toji-in, Kita-ku,Kyoto City 603-8577Japan
Director: Ikuro Anzai. Curator: Masahiko Yamabe
Editor: Kazuyo Yamane
Illustrator: Erico Tosaki
Tel: +81-075-465-8151. Fax: +81-075-465-7899.
http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp (http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/

The following is news on peace museums in Japan and Asian countries. Mr. Masahiko Yamabe, the curator of Kyoto Museum for World Peace, wrote news on big peace museums while Kazuyo Yamane of Grassroots House wrote news on small peace museums and other news. We hope you will enjoy reading them.

The Conference of Japanese Network of Museums for Peace in Tokyo

There was the 4th conference of Japanese Network of Museums for Peace in Tokyo on November 27th and 28th. There were about forty participants and they visited the Center of the Tokyo Air Raids and War Damages and the 5th Lucky Dragon Display House.

Posters and programs of the next International Peace Museum Conference were sent from Gernika Peace Museum and they were gone quickly at the conference.

The topics and the speakers were as follows:
“Training peace makers” by Mr. Motonaga Futatsubashi in Saitama, “The present situation and the future of the Center of the Tokyo Air Raids and War Damages” by Mr. Keiichiro Kaji, “The 50th Anniversary of the 5th Lucky Dragon Display House” by Mr. Kazuya Yasuda, “Nagaoka War Damages Museum in Nigata” by Mr. Tsuyoshi Sakimura, “Women’s War/Peace Museum and Active Museum Movement” by Ms Mina Watanabe, “Visiting Peace Museum in Stadtschlaining” by Mr. Yasuo Kawabata, “Creating a peace museum in Yamanashi” by Mr. Masafumi Ando, “Young people who think of war memory and war responsibility” by Kim Yeongwhan of Grassroots House, “Activities of Friends of Peace Association at Kyoto Museum for World Peace” by Ms Hitomi Katayama, “Volunteer work for the 5th Lucky Dragon Display House” by Ms Yoshiko Ohata, “Museums exhibiting war: sociological comparison between peace museums and military museums” by Prof. Toshifumi Murakami, “War exhibition at military museum in Germany” by Prof. Morio Minami and “Education for action for peace” by Prof. Hideo Fujita.

The next conference will be held at Kyoto Museum for World Peace around December, 2005.
erico

Japanese Network News

Kitakami Peace Memorial Opened: Iwate
Kitakami Peace Memorial was opened on April 27 at Fujine Seikatsu Center. There are 7000 letters from soldiers to Minejiro Takahashi who was an elementary school teacher and published newsletter on hometown entitled “Shin yu”(True Friends). The letters were studied to find real images of soldiers in the modern time by curators of National History Folklore Museum, which led to the opening of the museum. There are some 400 exhibits such as guns, textbooks besides the letters.
c/o Fujine Seikatsu Center: 14-147-3 Fujine, Waga-cho, Kitakami City
Tel: 0197-73-5876

Sendai City History Folklore Museum: Miyagi

The exhibition of “War and People’s Life” was held from July 17 to August 29. A picture-story show of “Blue-eyed Dolls” was shown for children on July 24. A public lecture on war and people’s life was given at Citizens’ Center on August 21.
Tel: 022-295-3956

Pacific War History Museum: Iwate
Nobuteru Iwabuchi

The Honorable Tomoko Abe, a member of House of Representative- Japan is traveling in mid-December, 2004 to Papua Province, Republic of Indonesia with Mr. Iwabuchi of PACIFIC WAR History Museum- Iwate to verify the fact that many human remains, identified as Japanese soldiers having died about 60 years ago, are very easily found in cities of Jayapura and Biak, known to the Japanese as West New Guinea during the W.W.II period. The parliamentarian, also a medical doctor specializing in pediatrics, is at the same time inspecting medical facilities there with a view to suggesting to the Japanese authority any official development assistances from Japan to the region, where fierce battles amongst Japan and the U.S.A./Australia took place between 1943 and 1945. Dr. Tomoko Abe, upon return to Japan will directly report to the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, taking the grand opportunity of 2005 being the 60th anniversary of the end of the last war, that something significant must be done to pay a biggest attention to the fact that there still are well over one million soldiers' human remains left, uncared for, behind at the former battle-fields all over the world. Where have the soldiers gone? They left Japan long time ago. Are they all dead?

The Management of PACIFIC WAR History Museum considers it important to keep continuing searches for the missing Japanese soldiers, dead or alive. We, the alive, are responsible to take good care of the war dead ,regardless of their nationalities, races or religions. The existence of the Yasukuni Shrine itself now is a grave crime to the worldly peace and war dead. Rest in Peace.
Tel: 0197-52-3000

The Auschwitz Peace Museum Japan: Fukushima

Auschwits Peace Museum was opened in April, 2003 in Shirakawa City, Fukushima Prefecture. The background is that the exhibition on Auschwits was shown at various places in Japan and it was supported by citizens’ groups. The purpose of the museum is to promote education for peace and human rights by conveying cruelty of Auschwits.

There are two corners: one is Anne Frank and the other is Rescuers such as Chiune Sugihara who save Jewish people during World War II.
245 Miwadai Shirasaka Shirakawa, Fukushima 961-0835
Tel: 0248-28-2108
http://www.am-j.or.jp
muzeumau@maple.ocn.ne.jp
(Thanks to Mr. Eiji Azuma)

Yuki no Shita Peace Culture Museum: Fukui

Record of Downpour in Fukui was published by the museum. Reported are the result of heavy rain on July 18, efforts for the reconstruction, volunteers’ experiences as well as some 200 photos. The photos show not only devastated areas that were reported in media but also things that show people’s lives such as the closure of hospitals and shops and notices that show people’s gratitude to volunteers who helped them. Damages of monuments and cultural assets are also recorded. The price is 1000 yen.
Kanpow No.149 published on October 20.
Tel & fax: 0776-66-1564
http://kore.mitene.or.jp/-yukisita/yukisita@kore.mitene.or.jp [kore.mitene.or.jp/-yukisita/yukisita@kore.mitene.or.jp]

Saitama Peace Museum: Saitama

An exhibition of “Children and War: School and Play” was held from July 24 to September 12. An illustrated book was published. There was a workshop on plays in the old days on August 15.

Citizens exchanged opinions with people who experienced war.

There were film shows: “Shin-chan’s Tricyle” was shown on April 10, Chi-chan’s Kageokuri(a children’s play), a sad story of people who were killed in war, on June 12, “On a Paper Crane” on July 10 and “A Flower” on September 11.

A special films were shown: “Anne Frank’s Diary” on May 1, “Give me back this Child” on August 14 and “Black Rain” on October 9.

People visited war-related sites on October 2: aviation school in Hikawa.

There was a reading of poetry for peace on July 5.
Tel:0493-35-4111 Fax:0493-35-4112
http://village.infoweb.ne.jp/-pms

Maruki Art Museum: Higashi Matsuyama City of Saitama

Iri and Toshi Maruki’s art works were exhibited from May 18 to September 3.

Art works by Suma Maruki, Iri’s mother, were also exhibited from September 7 to November 26. Her works are simple and mysterious.
(Newsletter No. 79 published on April 22 and No. 80 published on July 23.)
Tel:0493-22-3266 Fax:0493-24-8371
http://www.aya.or.jp/-marukimsn

Warabi City History Folklore Museum: Saitama

An exhibition of “15-Year-War Memory: Saving Rice and Substitutes for Rice” was held from August 1 to 31. A related leaflet was published.
Tel: 048-432-2477

Kamifukuoka City History Folklore Museum: Saitama

There was an exhibition on weapon factories and war from August 14 to September 12. There were also lectures on history. Mr. Hideo Oshiba, a council member on Kamifukuoka city cultural assets, talked about the history of weapons factory in Kawagoe on August 22. Mr. Kiyoji Uchida and Fumio Takagi (director of the museum) talked about Musashi Unit that was stationed at an elementary school to protect the mainland of Japan and also their experiences of being sent to the front.
Tel:049-261-6065

Fussa City Local Museum: Tokyo

War Exhibition for Peace was held from June 26 to September 26. A lecture on “The Russo-Japanese War from a Soldier’s Viewpoint” was given by Professor Katsuhiro Arai of Senshu University on August 14. People visited a former transformer substation, which belonged to Hitachi and was air raided by U.S. bombers during World War II, in Higashi Yamato City on August 28.
Tel:0425-53-3111
Creating Women’s War/Peace Museum: our activities
Yuko Yoshida

It has been almost two years since Ms Yayori Matsui passed away in December, 2002. There are five basic ideas behind the movement of creating Women’s War/Peace Museum.

1) Focus on violence during World War II from the viewpoint of gender justice
2) To make clear Japan’s responsibility for her aggression of other countries
3) To make the museum the base for the activities for the peaceful future
4) To build the museum and run it as people’s movement which is not related to national authority.
5) To promote international solidarity

In order to realize these ideas, open lectures were given since April and we learned the history of war and peace museums. This program was very meaningful to share the movement to create our museum with other people.

We learned “active museum movement” from Ms Michiko Kajimura of Women’s Group in Berlin who gave a lecture titled “Germans who won’t forget the history of aggression: things that I began to see through living in Berlin” on April 3. It is “German people’s movement who create a memorial at the site of aggression so that citizens can be empowered by learning the history of Nazism, thinking and acting.” We were encouraged by Germans who made efforts to preserve their memory of aggression by Nazism.

Mr. Yoshihiko Kimizuka of Tokyo Gakugei University gave a lecture on museums that criticize war such as Life is Treasure Museum in Okinawa in contrast to a public war museum that does not try to deal with Japan’s aggression on June 24. Professor Morio Minami of Aichi Kyouiku University gave a lecture on war museums for war and war museums for peace on July 24. We realized the importance of our museum project because it was pointed out that it is not possible to exhibit the real history of war at national history museum. Mr. Yuji Ishida of Tokyo University gave a lecture on Germany’s attitude toward her aggression on August 31. We felt a gap between Germany and Japan because German government dealt with war responsibility while Japanese government didn’t.

Mr. Thomas Lutz of Topography of Terror Foundation gave a lecture on recording the history of aggression on October 9. Discussed were how war memory is preserved, how the past was “overcome”, the difficulty of understanding the history of aggression from gender viewpoint etc.

Thus the necessity of our museum and concrete images became clearer. Our museum should aim at recording Japan’s aggression in terms of sexual violence against women, preserving the records and exhibitimg them by joining German active museum movement.

Mina Watanabe became the secretary general of Foundation Committee from September.
TEL&FAX: 03-3369-6866
info@wfphr.org (../Muse/info@wfphr.org)
http://www.wfphr.org/

The 5th Lucky Dragon Display House: Tokyo

The exhibition on people in Marshall Islands was held from May 15 to June 27. The damages by hydrogen bomb tests and people’s voices were shown in photos.
(Newsletter No. 309 published on June 1.
Website: http://d5f.org (http://d5f.org/)
fukuryumaru@msa.biglobe.ne.jp
Tel: 03-3251-8494

Korea Museum: Tokyo

There was an exhibition called “Big earthquake in Kanto: how the massacre of Koreans were reported in newspaper from August 18 to October 3.

The museum moved from the 7th floor to the 9th floor and there is more space than before.
http://www.40net.jp/~kourai/
Tel & Fax: 03-5272-3510

Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center: Tokyo

Hanna was killed at Auschwitz in World War II. It was found that her brother, George, lived in Canada by Ms Fumiko Ishioka, the director of the center. George aged 76 visited Tokyo and Kochi and talked about Hanna to 2000 children. The website on Hanna was created.
http://www.hanassuitcase.ca/
Tel: 03-5363-4808
holocaust@tokyo.email.ne.jp
www.ne.jp/asahi/holocaust/tokyo

The Center of the TokyoAir Raids and War Damages: Tokyo

A corner on children and war was created on the 3rd floor. Children were evacuated during World War II and related-documents, photos and diaries are exhibited.

Some seventy people got together on May 5 commemorating the 3rd year of creating Children’s Statue for Peace near the entrance of the museum. Their wish for peace was carved on the back screen.
Tel: 03-5857-5631. Fax: 03-5683-3326
http://www9.ocn.ne.jp/~sensai/

Kanagawa Plaza for Global Citizenship: Kanagawa

There was an exhibition of “Palestinian Refugees for Half a Century: Life supported by the United Nations” from June 29 to August 29.
(Global Citizens Report No. 19 published in July, 2004)
Tel:045-896-2121 Fax:045-896-2945
http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/osirase/plaza

Hiratsuka City Museum: Kanagawa

A book on U.S. air raids on Hiratsuka was published by Association of Recording U.S. Air Raids and War Damages on March 26. There are three volumes and this is the second one. It includes war damages and diaries of junior high school students who were forced to work during World War II.
Tel: 0463-33-5111 Fax:0463-31-3949

Sakuragaoka Museum: ToyokawaCity, Aichi

There were exhibitions on navy factory in Toyokawa and also on posters during World War II from July 17 to August 31.
Tel:0533-85-3775 Fax:0533-85-3776

Peace Museum Project in Matsushiro: Nagano Prefecture

Twenty-one people visited war-related sites on May 23 in Jouetsu. One of them is the remains of prisoners of war camp in Naoetsu. Some 300 Australian soldiers were put into a camp as prisoners of war in December, 1942, and they were forced to work to produce weapons. Sixty POWs died because of illness from March, 1943 to February, 1944. It was because of poor working conditions. It is said that there were 700 POWs including British, American and Dutch POWs when Japan was defeated.

15 officials at the camp were executed after the war. An Australian POW visited the place after the war and exchanges of both citizens started, which resulted in creating a peace memorial park and a museum. War-related sites and museums can be good to create peace.

Matsushiro Headquarter Peace Memorial was awarded 820,000 yen by Nagano City in order to promote guides of the underground shelter that had been made to protect the emperor’s family during World War II. The money will be used to publish 10,000 pamphlets on the shelter, three mobile phones for the guides, training guides and so forth.
http://homepage3.nifty.com/kibonoie/
Tel/Fax: 026-228-8415

Anjo City History Museum: Aichi

There was an exhibition on daily life during World War II and Meiji Air Base from July 17 to September 5. An illustrated book was published.

There was a lecture on war-related sites in Tokai area on July 24. People visited war-related sites such as Meiji Air Base on August 1. There were also lectures on war experiences by former soldiers and also a lecture on war toys in August.
Tel:0566-77-6655
Fax:0566-77-6600

Shizuoka Peace Center:Shizuoka

There was an exhibition on war and Shizuoka through Tanka poem from April 9 to July 11. Tanka poem played important roles in recording people’s life during World War II because it was difficult to use a camera. Chieo Nagakuraz’s poems were introduced.
(Newsletter No. 58published on May 15)
http://homepage2.nifty.com/shizuoka-heiwa
Tel & Fax: 054-247-9641

Asai-Town History Folklore Museum: Shiga

There was an exhibition commemorating the end of World War II in terms of soldiers’ war memory from July 24 to September 12.
Tel:077-554-2733
Fax:077-554-2755

Bronze Vessel Museum: Yasu City, Shiga

An exhibition on people’s life during World War II was held from July 3 to September 5. A leaflet was published.
Tel:077-554-2733 Fax:077-554-2755

Rittou History Folklore Museum: Shiga

An exhibition on the Russo-Japanese War was held from July 24 to September 5 including exhibits on children’s evacuation.

People also visited the sites of schools where children were evacuated during World War II.
Tel:077-554-2733 Fax:077-554-2755

Kyoto Museumfor World Peace: Kyoto

There was a special exhibition on Ainu culture from May 15 to June 13. Prof. Yugo Ono of Hokkaido University and Mutsumi Chisato gave a lecture on May 15. Mutsuko Nakamoto, the head of Association of Preserving Ainu Culture, and Reina, her grand-daughter, sang songs.

There was a photo exhibition on battlefields in the world from June 22 to July 22. Photo journalists, Naomi Toyota and Ryuichi Hirokawa gave a lecture on July 1 and October 14 respectively.

A Japanese film “KT” about the abduction of Kim Dae-jung and another comic film “Hotel Hibiscus” about a story of a family in Okinawa were screened respectively on July 3 and October 16 with a talk of the directors of the films and the peace museum.

Michael Moore’s film “Fahrenheit 9/11 was shown in July with some 500 participants, which was followed by a panel discussion by a famous critic and Professor Ikuro Anzai, the director of the museum.

World Press Photo Exhibition was held in October with about 8000 visitors.

Special Exhibition commemorating 50th Anniversary of the Sufferings due to US H-bomb Tests in Bikini Atolls was held from October 28 to November 23.

Ceremony for Renouncing War was held on December 8 with the participation of students and professors in which President of Ritsumeikan University expressed his determination to successfully renew the Kyoto Museum for World Peace attached to the university.

Prof. Anzai, the director, was appointed the Honorary Director of Nanjing International Peace Research Institute attached to the Nanjing Massacre Museum. He was also decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal for Culture and Information by the Government of Vietnam.

Tanba Manganese Memorial: Kyoto

There was the 3rd special exhibition on Korean people who were discriminated against and their movement against it from July 25 to August 29.
Tel:0771-54-0046 Fax:0771-54-0234

Mukou City Culture Museum: Kyoto

There has been an exhibition on life during World War II since 1995. Military uniforms, textbooks used during the war, letters related to the Russo-Japanese war were exhibited from August 14 to September 29.
Tel:075-931-1182 Fax:075-931-1121

Osaka International Peace Center: Osaka

A special exhibition on small arms and child soldiers was held from May 25 to July 21.

An exhibition on Sadako Sasaki was held from July 29 to August 11. An exhibition on the atomic bombing on Hiroshima was held from August 14 to September 12.

There was the exhibition of paintings by Vietnamese children and photos on the aftereffects of defoliant from September 21 to November 28. A symposium of “Vietnam and Japan: What we can do for building peace in Asia and the world” was organized on September 25.

Ms Haruko Moritaki, the head of Hiroshima Association for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, gave a lecture on Iraq war and depleted uranium on August 15.

In the seminar to think of peace in the 21st century, there was a lecture on child soldiers on June 19 and one on building peace in East Asia on September 4.

A Course of Peace Studies for Teachers was given in July. The content is US air raids on Osaka, how to convey significance of peace to children and how to report the present situation of the world.

There was a puppet show for children on July 21 and animated cartoons were shown from July 27 to 30.

A list of the names of 8608 victims of US air raids on Osaka is exhibited among 8658 victims except those who did not want to disclose their family names. There is a plan to create a peace monument by August 2005, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

(Osaka International Peace Center No.32 published on September 30)
Tel:06-6947-7208 Fax:06-6943-6080
http://www.mydome.or.jp/peace

Suita City Peace Memorial: Osaka

There was a photo exhibition on ships that had been sunken in the Pacific Ocean during World War II from August 24 to September 5.

Films and animated cartoons were shown from May to October.
Tel:06-6387-2593

Sakai City Peace & Human Rights Museum: Osaka

A special exhibition of Asian children diary with drawing was held from November 5 to 14.
Tel: 072-270-8150 Fax: 072-270-8159

Minoh City Local Museum: Osaka

Materials that were used in daily life during World War II were exhibited from July 28 to August 22.
Tel:072-723-2235 Fax:072-724-9694

The Peace, Human Rights and ChildrenCenter: Osaka

Some 15000 people visited the museum including the number of visitors of the traveling exhibits on school textbooks since the museum was founded 8 years ago. There are 6000 textbooks including the ones used in China, Korea and Japan during World War II. More and more people contacted the museum because of school textbook issues.
Tel: 072-229-4736 Fax: 072-227-1453

Himeji Peace Museum: Hyogo

Anti-nuclear exhibition was held from July 19 to August 29. There was a peace concert on August 1 and children chorus attended it.

An exhibition on women during World War II started to be held on October and it will end in December 23.
Tel:0792-91-2525 Fax:0792-91-2526

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

The exhibition on children who were forced to work during the war was held from July 16 to December 15.
(Peace Culture No.153 published on June 1)

The museum set up a committee for renewal project because the year 2005 will be its 50th anniversary. The committee consists of a number of specialists in different fields.

Tel:082-241-4004 Fax:082-542-7941
http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/peacesite/
hpcf@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp

Takamatsu Civic Culture Center: Peace Museum: Kagawa Prefecture

There was an exhibition on US air raids on Takamatsu from June 29 to July 4.
Peace films were shown in May 29 and August 26.
(Newsletter No. 16 published in October)
Tel:087-833-7722 Fax:087-861-7981
http://www.city.takamatu.kagawa.jp/kyouiku/bunkabu/sbsenter/heiwa.htm.

Grassroots House: Kochi

Kim Yeonghwan

Various events of Peace Wave in Kochi were done from June 26 to August 29. The secretariat is at Grassroots House.

Ms Haruko Moritaki, the head of Hiroshima Association for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, gave a lecture on Iraq war and depleted uranium. The 26th exhibition on war and peace was held under the four themes: US air raids on Kochi, the invasion of Iraq and Palestine, Japan’s invasion of China and hydrogen bomb tests in Bikini Atolls.

It was 22nd time that one million paper cranes were folded and decorated downtown, Kochi city.

There were the 8th peace march in Kochi, a memorial for the victims of US air raids, 21st Anti-nuclear Peace Concert, the 10th Peace Theater, the 21st Peace Art Exhibition, the 5th Peace Rally for Children and so forth.

There was a symposium on history in East Asia and peace as the 10th citizens meeting in solidarity with Asian people. It was organized by college students and young people. Students from China, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia as well as Korean students living in Japan discussed war responsibility, history education and concepts of history.

Professor Eise Kurimoto of Osaka University gave a lecture on Sudan, which gave a chance to think of civil conflicts and peace in Africa.

There was a festival on Kou Makimura, anti-war poet on September 3, the anniversary of his death. There was a lecture on him by Mr. Mutsushi Ino, a poet and Makimura’s poems were read. His life was introduced on Korean TV in which Mr. Shigeo Nishimori talked about Makimura.

Mr. Park Il Sun, Korean environmental activist, visited Grassroots House for the 4th time and donated 100 books to Korean children living in Matsuyama.

There was a rally called “NO MORE WAR! 9·11Rally in Kochi” at Grassroots House. A documentary film of “Who are Terrorists?” was shown and there was a peace concert.

A peace action to call for the withdrawal of the US military and Japanese Self Defense Forces from Iraq is continued once a week downtown of Kochi City.

German Museum: Naruto City, Tokushima

A diary of a German prisoner of war is introduced in Newsletter No. published on June 20. It was written from 1914 to 1920. It says, “A temple in Marugame of Shikoku is very crowded, but we live here. The only chance to go out is to go to the dentist in Takamatsu. Naturally many prisoners of war wanted to go to the dentist…”
http://www.city.naruto.tokushima.jp/germanhouse.
doitukan@city.naruto.tokushima.jp
Tel: 088-689-0099

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum

There was an exhibition of the dolls collected by a couple who lost their child named Yoko-chan by the atomic bombing from May 25 to August 31.
Tel:095-844-1231 Fax:095-846-5170

Oka Masaharu Memorial Nagasaki Peace Museum

The members of the museum visited Nanjing in August. Two female students in Nagasaki went to China to learn Japan’s aggression of Nanjing. One of them said that she’d like to become a teacher and tell children Japan’s aggression for the peaceful future.
(Newsletter No. 38 published in October)
Tel: 095-820-5600
http://www.d3.dion.ne.jp/~okakinenn
tomoneko@land.linkclub.or.jp

OkinawaPrefectural PeaceMemorialMuseum: Okinawa

There was a special exhibition on war-related articles from October 1 to December 19. They were donated by citizens.

An exhibition on children and Okinawa land battle was exhibited from June 3 to July 18. Tetsu Nakamura, a medical doctor voluntarily working in Afghanistan, was awarded Okinawa International Peace Prize and an exhibition on him was held from September 16 to October 11.
(Newsletter No. 7 published on July 23)
Tel:098-997-3844 Fax:098-997-3947
http://www.peace-musem.pref.okinawa.jp

Himeyuri Peace Memorial Museum

The museum was renewed and opened on April 13. The explanation of exhibits was written by people who experienced the war in Okinawa. Its purpose is not only to convey historical facts to the next generation but also to make the victims’ ideas and feelings reflected in the exhibits.
(Newsletter No. 33 published on May 30)
TEL 098-997-2100·2101
FAX 098-997-2102
http://www.himeyuri.or.jp/

Tsushima-maru Memorial: Okinawa

The memorial of Tsushima-maru was opened on August 22. Tsushima-maru was a ship used to carry people and children who would evacuate, but it was sunken by US submarine and 1418 people including 775 children were killed.
Tel&Fax:098-941-3515

The 8th National Symposium of Preserving War-Related Sites

-Secretariat of the National Network of Preserving War-Related Sites-

The symposium was held in Tateyama City of Chiba Prefecture from August 21 to 22. 450 people attended it and they visited war-related sites such as former Navy base before the symposium. The theme was “How to preserve war-related sites and use them for peace”.
(From the website of House of Hope)
http://homepage3.nifty.com/kibonoie/isikinituto.htm)

Publications
Thinking in Nagasaki by Shinji Takahash: Hokuju shuppan 2004

Hiroshima Peace Science 26 by Institute for Peace Science, Hiroshima University 2004. Included are papers such as “The Reduction of US-Russian Strategic Nuclear Weapons and the Issue of ‘Reserve’ Stockpiles: Reconsidering the Significance of the SORT” by Hiroshi Yamada.

* IPSHU(Institute for Peace Science, Hiroshima University) Research Report No. 31: Reconsidering Human Security published in February, 2003.

Peace Studies in the Time of Globalization by Peace Studies Association of Japan: Houritsu Bunka-sha, 2004 (4 volumes in Japanese)

Visual Book Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be Handed Down by Ikuro Anzai: Shin-Nihon Shuppan-sha. Five-volume books for children and young people full of photographs and testimonies of A-bomb survivors, published in commemoration of 60th anniversary of atomic bombing. (in Japanese)

War-Related Sites in Japan edited by National Network of Preserving War-Related Sites: Heibon-sha Shinsho 2004 ?1200

Germ War and Today: published 5 times a year

Tel & fax: 048-985-5082

* Website of the House of Sharing http://www.nanum.org/jap/index.html

* Iejima Newsletter

There are the words by Shoukou Awagon, the founder of Life is Treasure Peace Museum and “Father of Peace Movement in Okinawa” and visitors’ impressions of the museum.

Tel: 0980-49-3047 Fax: 0980-49-5834

A calendar on Shoukou Awagon and photos of people in Iejima was published by Eizou Bunka Kyoukai.
Tel: 045-981-0834. Fax: 045-981-0918
eizobunka@r5.dion.ne.jp

Videotapes on Okinawa and the Philippines etc are available at Eizou Bunka Kyoukai mentioned above.

* Let’s

There are articles on Chinese people who were forced to go to Japan to work during World War II, the violation of human rights in Palestine. (December, 2003) It is published by Resource Center on Japan’s War Responsibility (in Japanese)

Tel: 03-3366-8261
Fax: 03-3366-8262

* It is possible to get to know the Japanese Constitution in English in the following website of Hougakukan Institute of Constitution: http://www.jicl.jp/english/index.html

(Thanks to Hitoshi Okawa)
Tel: 03-5489-2153
Fax: 03-3780-0130

Japan Center for Asian Historical Records: National Archives of Japan (English, Chinese, Hangul and Japanese)http://www.jacar.go.jp/

“The Power of Protest” by Lawrence S. Wittner in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists July/August 2004

Obituary: Shigeo Nishimori of Grassroots House
Let’s become wind to carry peace in Memory of Shigeo Nishimori
Keiko Tamaki: Vice-director

Mr. Shigeo Nishimori, the director of Grassroots House, passed away on August 21. He has been working hard for peace though he suffered from hobnailed liver.

Some 400 people got together in memory of Mr. Nishimori from all over Japan and Korea on October 10. Messages were sent not only from Japan but also from China, England, Germany, Italy, Northern Ireland etc.

His life for peace was introduced using slides, music and messages. His life was based on his ideas of respecting life. When he was a student at Hokaido University, he began his activities for peace. He became a teacher of biology and promoted peace education. He also promoted peace movement which is based on the community. One of the examples is making an exhibition on US air raids on Kochi where more than 400 people were killed during World War II.

He investigated the victims of the US air raids, collected related materials and made an exhibition. A peace monument was finally realized in July 2004.

Peace monument in Kochi City

Grassroots House was created in November, 1989 by Mr. Nishimori. It has exhibits related to war, peace, environment, peace culture etc. He organized a peace trip to China to investigate what Japanese army from Kochi did in China during World War II. The trip was organized six times from 1991 and 1998. Booklets on Japan’s aggression were published and used for peace education. He actively supported Chinese lawsuit against Japanese government for apology and compensation for terrible damages done during the war.

Thinking that the destruction of the environment is another type of war, he thought that it is important to think of the nature 1000 years later. On March 19, 1995, he organized people to plant trees at Constitution Forest that symbolizes Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution that renounces war.

He also studied pacifists, especially Kou Makimura, a revolutionary poet. Makimura’s poems were published in a book and his life was introduced in a Korean TV program in which Mr. Nishimori emphasized the importance of Kou Makimura.

Mr. Nihimori kept criticizing war in Afghanistan and Iraq by writing, talking with people and attending meetings though he was suffering from illness. But so many people were encouraged to promote activities for peace by him.

We wanted him to live much longer for peace and better world. Though he passed away, we feel that he still keeps an eye on us somewhere. He made a song called “Let’s become wind” and we’d like to blow new wind that carries peace.

International Symposium “Exchange of Experiences and Future Cooperation of Asian Peace Museums"

The symposium was held by Science Council of Japan (National Committee for Peace Research) and Kyoto Museum for World Peace on June 19th. There were 118 Participants. Ms. Lee Suhyo of the Republic of Korea talked about “A New Tide of Korean Peace Museum Campaign and the Possibility of Japan-Korea Cooperation”. Mr. Zhou Sheng Shan, Director of Nanjing Massacre Museum (China) talked about “China-Japan Difference in Recognition of Nanjing Massacre and Future Prospect for Resolution.” Mr. Nguyen Kha Lan, Director of War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), talked about “How to Hand Down the Memories of Vietnam War to the Posterity for Making Future Peace”. The exchange of experiences and opinions encouraged the participants to work for peace in cooperation with one another. The details will be published in the journal of Kyoto Museum for World Peace in March, 2005.

IPRA Conference in Hungary
Kazuyo Yamane

The International Peace Research Association held its conference in Sopron, Hungary from July 5 to 9. Some 250 people attended it from forty countries.

Professor Toshifumi Murakami presented a paper of “The Influence of Education on War: the Comparison between Peace Museums and Military Museums”.

Kazuyo Yamane presented a paper of “Peace Museums in Japan: the Present Situations and Challenges”. It seems that peace researchers began to think that peace museums are effective in promoting peace education.

Some peace researchers visited Peace Museum in Stadtschlaining. The exhibits on peace, environment, conflict resolution, pacifists, understanding different culture were very impressive.

The following photo is very interesting to understand different culture.

The girl with her tongue sticking out is from Tibet. There is a story to this: through this way of greeting, people would see the tongue; and if it were dark, there would be "bad words" resting on it; the brighter the tongue is, the better and brighter is the soul. (Thanks to Hanna Orthofer of Peace Museum in Stadtschlaining)

Earth Spheres

The following is from Mr. Gerald Elfendahl, the former director of History Museum of Bainbridge Island in the State of Washington, the USA. Earth balls may be good for peace museum shops.

During the 2000 millennium, many asked, "Who was the most important human being of the past 1,000 years or century? Nominations included the person whose automated cameras took the first photos of the Earth from space so that we could all see our home-- how we are all one.

Eric Morris makes replicas of Earth -- giant ones for Fairs and Olympic Games, small ones for general and diverse consumers. The replicas are photographically accurate. They are made from NASA satellite photos. They perfectly show oceans, continents, and islands with clouds and weather systems swirling about them. They are printed with special ink so cities glow in the dark same as seen at night from space!
Eric's new 16" diameter "Earth Ball" is mass produced to be affordable. Every classroom and child on Earth should have or see one. They are inflatable, easy to mail. Local schools -- students and teachers! -- are excited about them.

Eric's company custom-makes giant, photo-accurate Earth models three-feet and larger -- one over 20-feet in diameter. He made two 16-foot Earths for the Utah Winter Olympic Games.
Eric Morris, Director
ORBIS COMPANY
PO Box 1148, Eastsound, WA 98245 USA
Tel.: (360) 376-4320; FAX: (360) 376-6050
eric@earthball.com
www.earthball.com

Peace Art Project Cambodia

There was PAPC Exhibition at Java Gallery Phnom Penh from 29 September to 5 October 2004.
www.peaceartprojectcambodia.org
It exhibited a selection of sculptures and furniture made from decommissioned weapons parts by young Cambodian artists at Java Gallery Phnom Penh (www.javaarts.org) for a limited period.

This second PAPC exhibition at Java Gallery reflects the progression of the artists’ skills and influences since the first Elements exhibition in February 2004.

All work on display is available for purchase with the proceeds being divided equally between the artist and re-investment into the workshop.

PAPC is a non-profit organisation which aims to:
-Train young Cambodian artists in new skills and materials and provide them with sustainable, transferable employment skills
-Promote young Cambodian artists and their work nationally and globall
-Promote a weapon free society nationally and globally
Contactemail address: info@javaarts.org [info@javaarts.org]

Articles on Peace Museums in Japan

Revealing the hidden facts of war promotes peace
MaryAnn Hansen: Australia

I have recently completed my Masters Thesis on a topic that dealt with the way war history continues to effect the relationship between China and Japan. I had been studying China for some years but had only limited knowledge of Japanese war history other than those stories handed down by members of my family, what I had seen depicted in mostly American movies and the reporting in the news media. All of this information gave me a very bad image of Japan.

I was particularly struck, while traveling and living in China, not just by the very strong anti-Japanese sentiment, but by the fact that young people were often the most hostile. In Australia I have rarely encountered young people with negative feelings about Japan; on the contrary, many young people embrace and admire Japanese culture. So I was interested to learn why the situation in China hadn’t changed after so many years.

Even before I began my serious research I was aware of the controversies surrounding Japan’s attitude towards its war history. World media has regularly reported on the text book issue, politicians visit to Yasukuni Shrine and Japan’s unwillingness to apologize for its wartime actions. I found this situation most peculiar and made the same assumption as most other people who read these reports: that the ‘official’ Japanese view, was shared by most of its population.

I learned that in addition to museums dedicated to the suffering caused from atomic bombings, museums in Osaka and Kyoto gave a different account of the war than the Japanese government presents and although I could find nothing in the English language academic material about them, I discovered that there were many small peace museums throughout Japan. I decided that the only way that I could get a complete picture of Japanese attitudes towards war was to visit Japan myself.

From the time that Fujita Hideo very kindly served as my guide to the Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall and the Center of the Tokyo Air Raids and War Damages until I was warmly welcomed in Kochi, my previous assumptions about Japan were challenged. After two weeks in Japan visiting ten different museums, speaking to many peace activists and listening to personal testimonies, I was more convinced than ever of the futility of war. The western world is aware of the catastrophes of the atomic bombs, but little is known of the devastation caused to Japanese cities by fire-bombings and I was deeply shocked at the extent of the suffering experienced. Nor is it widely known how dedicated many Japanese people are to the cause of peace.

In China, especially, Japan continues to maintain its reviled reputation. The Chinese public is constantly bombarded with negative reports about Japanese behaviour connected to Japan’s period of aggression against China. Critics have accused the Chinese government of manipulating these feelings among its citizens through educational policies and control of the media. Even the Chinese national anthem ‘March of the Volunteers’ is a war song, composed to honour those who went to Manchuria to fight a war of resistance against Japanese imperialism. Yet my findings were that a great deal of this negative feeling is spontaneous, most especially demonstrated by the way these feelings are expressed on the internet, a medium that the Chinese government has found impossible to dominate. Increased internet usage has coincided with a sharp increase in animosity directed towards Japan, with recent opinion polls reporting that less than 6 percent of Chinese view Japan as friendly or very friendly, while 43 percent said the opposite.

On my return to Australia I was determined to learn more about Japanese war history and enrolled in a post-graduate class at the University of Melbourne. The class upset me and I found it disturbing to do the required reading and to learn of details that I had previously only had a vague notion about. Most of all I found it upsetting to see that my classmates, most of whom were under thirty, with no direct experience of war, seem so unconcerned. They compared descriptions of battles in the Pacific to scenes that they had seen in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and appeared to have no concept that what we were studying was not a novel or a movie, but a tragedy that caused widespread death, suffering and destruction. About half way through the course, all that changed. The topic was ‘atrocities’ and I braced myself for the unpleasant research. The material presented by the lecturer was far from predictable, however, and focused exclusively on the atrocities committed by the allies. Most of the group learned for the first time of the acts of barbarity committed by Australian, British and American troops against their Japanese foes. They were more shocked than I will ever be able to describe and they became completely sober. Suddenly it was not ‘John Wayne’ saving the world from ‘evil’, but war itself that became evil. They learned that war corrupts humanity and defiles us all. The change in the class was palpable and by the end of the semester every student that had attended had become a pacifist. It is such a simple solution, and yet I had never completely understood before that our best hope for preventing wars in the future is to give a complete, ‘warts and all’ education to our youth about the true horrors of war. Whoever glorifies and romanticizes war and those who fought and died in it, be they Japanese, Chinese, Australian or American, do a dreadful disservice to future humanity.

The Case of Japanese Peace Museums
Lucetta Sanguinetti: Italy

It was an extraordinary travel experience that permitted me to have hands-on this unexpected and extreme reality, to make evident the singularity of which Japan alone is the bearer. About half of the peace museums on our planet rise from its narrow island territory. And this is not a few, because it concerns some 40 peace museums (including small and big ones) compared to approximately 80 existing around the globe. This fact in itself reveals a precise choice.

From that same Japan that marked, with the catastrophe of the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of the most atrocious of the world wars and the beginning of the nuclear age, the necessity “not to forget” had brought two museums in the bombed cities to life since 1955: the Nagasaki International Cultural Hall and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. In the 1990s both underwent a radical renewal that permitted them to take on a precise objective in a more significant way, that of becoming the catalyst of international actions in the struggle against the instrument-war. Meanwhile, from the 1980s on, numerous institutions that are recognized today as peace museums, have sprung up, both in many cities that had undergone destruction from conventional carpet bombing, and in many others that, not claiming a special wound to remember, intend to witness their commitment by working toward peace.

Japan therefore assumes a guiding role in the museum’s culture of peace and in peace politics on a worldwide level. Yes, politics, but not governmental ones, characterized notoriously by a rightwing Nipponese model, tending rather to block than to promote the new, positive orientations of the most recent peace museums. It’s more about transnational politics which become vehicles for the most committed university environments, the NGOs, the cooperative movement and, for some aspects, the transnational bodies of the United Nations… that, just in the most important Japanese peace museums, are seen to rise up and be supported several on a large scale international campaigns.

It also concerns focused local politics: on a civic level, the cities that are equipped with a peace museum have felt the need to educate people’s consciences toward increasingly intelligent choices in the direction of the respect for human rights, civil rights, nonviolence, disarmament, ethics economics and solidarity; in a word, toward peace. This has caused that one of the major activities of Japanese peace museums to be dedicated to peace education, with integrated programs for schools, university courses, seminars, forums and conferences. All this ferment generates a climate of attention to and research on peace themes that influence citizens’ choices, so much so that some towns take on the name “peace city”. They can put in place the means for a capillary sensitization that touches the younger generations in a special way, and that, through the school, can reach large sections of the population, so as to penetrate inside the family core.

The city is the unit of measure of the politics of the people: it is still a citizens’ campaign, that of Mayors for Peace, that unites the participating cities in the movement “Inter-City Solidarity, Program to Promote Solidarity of Cities towards the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons”. And the peace museums of Hiroshima and Nagasaki also become the municipal, not only international headquarters of the entire initiative.

In addition, there are two other significant elements that characterize the Japanese peace museums, the first of which, very strong, is the “Strategy of Reconciliation”, that not only brings the visitors to recognize Japan’s own responsibility in the “15 Years War” of invasion and domination of Asian nations, but involves them in operational programs of student cultural exchanges, and health interventions, in order to rebuild bridges of solidarity with the objective of healing the old wound of the offended peoples.

The second aspect, instead, still seemed weak, not completely understandable and not as enthralling as one could expect from innovative and courageous museums like the Japanese ones. Nevertheless it is present and is in a phase of elaboration and development, such that in the coming years it’s foreseen that it could become the backbone of peace museums: it’s the aspect that takes into consideration the theme specific of “peace actions” (the nonviolent struggles for liberation, opposition to wars, nonviolent intervention in areas of conflict, civil and human rights claims), of “peace initiatives” and of “history of peace movements”.

Also in the Japanese museums this is the most difficult element to document in a clear and visible way. And if some of these begin to insert this documentation into their museological programs, this remains accessible only to experts, to people that are already aware of the topic and are sensitive to it. Perhaps a real, scenographic project on a large scale is still missing from the whole process, that can be communicated to the public only with an adequate, museographic preparation. The effective exposition of reflection and analyses of the run which has already gone, supported by research and by scientific peace studies, is still not perhaps so visible, so that it can lead people to active and conscious choices of nonviolence.

There is however an element that Japanese peace museums communicate in a special way: the strength of the Memory that a "collective mourning’s elaboration" transforms into a worldwide event. If the atomic catastrophe marked history, touching the depth of the capacity for human beings to exterminate them, and if this happened for the first time to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then the upward thrust towards building peace cannot come from anywhere else than from this Earth, from its capacity to rise up from annihilation. The "hibakusha" and their children demonstrate here every day that they have learned to believe in a possible resurrection, that they have learned to transform a historical evil into a higher good.

The calculation cannot be exact because some museums still don’t have an internet site; others are listed as peace museums, but in reality are still only projects…

Duffy, Terence, The Peace Museums of Japan, in Museum International, Paris, N. 196 (1997), p. 49-54: “The Nagasaki International Cultural Hall, predecessor of the new NagasakiAtomicBombMuseum, was constructed in 1955 to exhibit articles and photographs illustrating the tragedy of the Atomic bombing. A fine account of the Hall’s history is given in the classic study, Nagasiki Speaks: A Record of the Atomic Bombing. In April 1996 a substantial new museum was opened with three main exhibits- the atomic bombing on Nagasaki; Japanese war-time policy; and from the nuclear arms race to Japan’s post-1945 peace movement”.

Hiroshima Peace Site, Guide of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum,
http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/peacesite/English/Stage0/S0-5E.html; http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/index_e2.html:

“In 1949, an A-bomb materials display room (called A-bomb Memorial Hall) was opened to the public in the Hiroshima Central Community Hall. The HiroshimaPeaceMemorialMuseumand an accompanying building, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall, were opened in PeaceMemorial Parkin 1955. A group of volunteers called the Association to Support the Collection of A-bomb Materials (now the A-bomb Materials Preservation Association) and many other Hiroshimaresidents were instrumental in gathering A-bomb artifacts. The two buildings have been renovated several times to improve the exhibit itself, to provide peace studies facilities for school field trips, and for other improvements. The present HiroshimaPeaceMemorialMuseumwas opened in 1994, unifying the two buildings (now called the East and West buildings). The EastBuildingtraces Hiroshima’s history, depicting conditions in Hiroshimajust before and after the bombing. The WestBuildinguses photographs and artifacts to convey the facts of the atomic bombing itself. Through its atomic bomb materials, Hiroshimaintends to continue appealing to the approximately 1 million people from Japanand abroad who visit every year for the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of genuine and lasting world peace”.

High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR):
http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/hc/index.htm

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR):
http://www.unidir.org/html/en/about.html

United Nations University (UNU): http://www.unu.edu/

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3328&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): http://www.unicef.org/about/index.html

Among these I’d like to remember the campaign to ban nuclear weapons from the globe by 2020 (“Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons”), the one for the ban on depleted uranium weapons: DU (Depleted Uranium) Weapons banning, the one against nuclear testing, the one against preventative and punitive wars, promoted by the NGO (Mayors for Peace), just started by the

Peace Memorial Centre of Hiroshima: http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/mayors/english/index.html http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/peacesite/English/Stage3/3-2/3-2-10words/vol10e.html
http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/mayors/english/outlines/cityplan.html

It concerns lobbying in order to obtain government approval so that the survivors of the populations at that time deported to Japan, contaminated by the nuclear radiation from the atomic explosion, might receive the needed medical treatments for free in their own countries. Chinese and Korean people, by now old, mutilated or sick, can be taken care of, in this reconciliation effort of which the peace museums are promoters, so that they might be helped and covered by the Japanese national healthcare system, as act of reparative refund.
http://www.japan-press.co.jp/2315/kwak.html

Muse 14 in Japanese was published in November. Special thanks goes to Dr. Peter van den Dungen, Ms Antonia Young, Mr. Franz Deutsch, Gerals Elfendahl, Ms Jane Bunge Noffke and PAPC(Peace Art Project Cambodia) who kindly sent various news.

Comments & Criticizm

Your comments and criticizm of Muse, peace museums in Japan will be very welcome. Special thanks goes to Ms Lucetta Sanguinetti from Italy and Ms MaryAnn Hansen from Australia who visited peace museums in Japan and wrote an article for Muse.

Kazuyo Yamane
The editor of Muse
GRH@ma1.seikyou.ne.jp
http://ha1.seikyou.ne.jp/home/Shigeo.Nishimori

We Wish You a Happy New Year!!

Posted by Evelin at March 17, 2005 05:17 AM