Day 2: July 3, 2018
  1. Courtesy Call on Director of UNITAR Hiroshima Office 
  2. Lecture: “Hiroshima 0806, 1945”
  3. Lecture:  “Local Government Mission and Responsibility for Future”

We went to Hiroshima City today to visit United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Hiroshima Prefectural Government (HPG) today. 

First, we visited UNITAR to pay a courtesy call on Ms. Mihoko Kumamoto, Director of the Hiroshima Office, UNITAR. We learned how UNITAR have been contributing and promoting toward global peace by offering various trainings and seminars. We also learned important meaning of establishment of Hiroshima Office. The session was peacefully held at the room offering the beautiful panoramic view of Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Bomb dome. 

We then walked from UNITAR to HPG for lectures. The project is organized and conducted by HPG and Hiroshima University (HU), proposing and implementing roles, respectively. We work collaboratively and invite many lecturers from HPG.

The first lecture was offered by Ms. Keiko Ogura who was exposed to the atomic bomb 2.4km away from the hypo-center at age 8. It is such a valuable experience listening  to the firsthand story from the atomic bomb survivor who is also the representative of the Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace.  Her story impressed us and brought strong attention to determination to abolish nuclear weapons and importance of having hope and peace.

The second session at HPG was delivered by Mr. Yasuo Hashimoto, Managing Director of  Hiroshima Link Service. The four-hour session consisted of lecture, group work, and group presentations. We learned importance of setting a goal in our lives and having a missing as a member of each society. Trainees took the three messages to their home, 1) Living with Pride, 2) open mind and good planning, 3) trusting network.