August 15 (Sat) Ota City Peace City Declaration Commemorative Project "Peace Gathering": Screening of the film 'In This Corner of the World,' off-site exhibition by the Showa no Kurashi Museum, war experience testimonies, VR atomic bomb experience, etc. I feel strongly that it is precisely because we learn about war that we can sustain the desire to seek peace.
On Saturday, August 15, the anniversary of the end of the war, I went to the #OtaCityPeaceCityDeclarationCommemorativeProject "#PeaceGathering" at the Ota Citizen's Hall Aprico🕊️. This year's theme is "#PassingTheBatonOfPeaceToTheFuture."
Prior to the afternoon ceremony, I visited the exhibitions in the morning. From 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, peace panel exhibitions, workshops, and other events were held in the basement. Various efforts are made every year, and this year, the following exhibitions and more were on display.
◯ Ota City Folk Museum Exhibition Corner (War memorial monuments, life on the home front during wartime, school evacuations)
◯ Ota City's Path to Peace Exhibition Corner (Including messages from our friendship city, Tomi City, and sister city, Salem)
◯ Tokyo Air Raid Exhibition Corner (Not only the March 10 "Great Tokyo Air Raid" but also the air raids on Omori and Kamata)
◯ Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Exhibition Corner (Including "Pictures of the Atomic Bomb" by Hiroshima City Motomachi High School students)
◯ VR Atomic Bomb Experience Corner (Borrowed from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum)
◯ Showa no Kurashi Museum Exhibition Corner (Including a collaborative exhibition with the film 'In This Corner of the World')
◯ Screening of War Experience Testimonies (War experiences recounted by Kazuko Koizumi, Director of the Showa no Kurashi Museum)
◯ Paper Crane Workshop for Everyone, Hand-painted Wind Chime Workshop
In the Tokyo Air Raid corner, there was a map showing the burned-out areas of the current 23 wards (the 35 wards at the time), and I noticed that the current Ota City (the former Omori and Kamata wards) had noticeably high levels of destruction overall. In particular, it is said that 99% of Kamata Ward was burned down because there were many munitions factories there.
#VRAtomicBombExperience is an experience where you wear a headset to simulate the state of Hiroshima before and after the atomic bombing, 360 degrees up, down, left, and right. It is a very realistic video produced by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Just when you think a single bomb has fallen from a B-29 bomber, a strong flash of light streaks across, and in an instant, the city is destroyed, engulfed in flames, and black rain begins to fall. It also shows the partial resumption of streetcar operations three days later, and the city moving toward reconstruction one year later. The final message, from "Praying for Peace" to "#CreatingPeace," left a lasting impression on me.
The #ShowaNoKurashiMuseum (Minami-Kugahara) is a private museum, but this was their first time holding an off-site exhibition. University student volunteers from the museum were also there. By taking off our shoes to enter, we were able to view the exhibition with the same feeling as visiting the museum (the former Koizumi family residence) itself. Moreover, we were able to touch the actual exhibits, and I personally held comfort bags, thousand-stitch belts, diaries, and postcards, feeling the "story of things" (the power of objects to tell a story).
The animated film 'In This Corner of the World,' which was screened in the afternoon, reportedly used the Showa no Kurashi Museum's collection and recorded footage as references for its production. When I watched the film later, I was able to see the same items and dining tables that were on display that day appearing in the scenes. By the way, the name of the film's protagonist and the name of Director #KazukoKoizumi's mother are both "Suzu."
I didn't have enough time for the workshops last year, but this year I was able to participate in the #HandPaintedWindChimeWorkshop. It involves drawing pictures or writing words on a wind chime with an oil-based marker (Mackie). The elementary school child of a friend drew their own face along with their close friends and painted the background in their respective image colors. Having close friends is truly what peace is about☺️. I drew the oleander, a flower that symbolizes Hiroshima, and the shell ginger, a flower that symbolizes Okinawa, and wrote "Peace." Also, on the paper strip, I wrote "Toward Creating Peace," which I saw in the VR video earlier.
From 1:30 PM, I attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony in the main hall. There were speeches by the Mayor and the City Council Chairman, a message from Toshio Hanaoka, Mayor of our friendship city Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the 80th anniversary commemorative video "Passing the Baton of Peace to the Future," and the reading of the #OtaCityPeaceCityDeclaration (August 15, 1984), a silent prayer, and a choral performance of "#WhatIsPeace" (Higashi-Chofu Third Elementary School students and the Salem student delegation)👏.
Following this was a special screening of the film '#InThisCornerOfTheWorld' (2019, directed by Sunao Katabuchi). Actually, this was my first time seeing it. Even within the gentle touch of the animation, the horror and sadness of war were depicted, and the lives lived by each of the characters left a deep impression on my heart.
Through the ceremony, the film, and the exhibitions, I felt strongly once again that there is no happiness without peace, and that it is precisely because we learn about war that we can sustain the desire to seek peace. I would like to thank Ota City and all those involved for planning and operating such wonderful content.
Additionally, the #PeacePrayerFireworks, which have been held in August until now, will be held on November 14 (Sat) due to measures against extreme heat and bad weather.
#OtaCityPeaceGathering
#Chikumen #WorkingHard #ThoroughlyFieldOriented
#RealizingPoliciesTogetherWithYou
#OtaCityCouncilMember #TakahiroShojima #TakahiroShojima
