Dear Friends,
While all the BIG international citizen’s events were going down in New York City leading up to the United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, some pretty cool things were happening in other places as well. Here in the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest we had a number of events (intended to raise awareness) including our own rally and march coinciding with last Sunday’s march in New York.
The (personal) high point of the past week was the arrival in Seattle of the 38 person delegation representing the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo). The delegation consisted of Japanese citizens from many cities, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The most venerable member of the delegation, Ms. Tokie MIZUNO, is a Hibakusha of Hiroshima (a survivor of the atomic bombing of that city).
MIZUNO-san was 5 years old when the bomb exploded over her city, and she has never forgotten that day. She still bears the scars both visible and invisible that have affected her life and health. I could tell you more, but the story should be told by MIZUNO-san (in her own words). This is her story, and she wrote it down and then stood before people in Seattle, and then in Tacoma, and with great courage and
conviction told her story, gave her testimony, and called on everyone to work together for a nuclear weapon-free world.
MIZUNO-san honored us with her testimony, and as witness to that testimony I feel a responsibility to pass on her words exactly as she spoke them on both occasions. You may read them here (in fact, this is the only place you will find them) and I hope that you will be touched by her words and pass them on to others, especially those who are still unaware that the nuclear-armed nations still brandish thousands of nuclear weapons, and are prepared to use these terrible weapons.
I should also mention that we also heard from Mr. KIMURA Isamu, General Secretary, Fukuoka Council against A & H Bombs (Fukuoka Gensuikyo), who spoke eloquently of the need to abolish nuclear weapons, and that all the members of the delegation were wonderful ambassadors of peace (”Heiwa” in Japanese). I am grateful for each of these ambassadors of peace and new-found friends; as their host I was honored to spend time with them and see their tremendous, steadfast dedication to building a peaceful world. They are people of deep, generous spirit.
The voices of the Hibakusha help keep the memory of those terrible events in 1945 alive so that we may choose (if we find our own courage) to not allow such things to ever happen again. For if we do not remember history, we are doomed to repeat it; this terrible history must never be repeated. Let us hear the voices of the Hibakusha with our hearts and minds so that we may carry their message with us wherever we go…
No more Hiroshimas! No more Nagasakis!
Peace,
Leonard
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This is the testimony of Ms. Tokie MIZUNO as it was written by Ms. Mizuno in April 2010, and translated by Nobue KUGIMIYA; and presented by Ms. Mizuno at First United Methodist Church of Seattle, Washington on May 5, 2010 and at the University of Washington Tacoma on May 6, 2010. The two photos were also included with her testimony.
My name is Tokie MIZUNO and I am a survivor of Hiroshima. 65 years ago, when I was 5 years old, the atomic bomb was dropped on my city, Hiroshima. I was near my grandmother’s house, 1.2 kilo-meters from ground zero.
The City of Hiroshima was completely destroyed and was turned into rubble by the enormous destructive power of the atomic bomb. As other survivors, I was barely alive and the damage on my body and mind was unbearable.
I might have been lucky to survive but life hasn’t been easy on me financially, physically and mentally. This agony should not be repeated on anybody else on earth. That’s why I have become involved in anti-nuclear actions with other Hibakusha as well as many other Japanese people.
We have been collecting signatures for a nuclear-weapon-free world, and engaging in activities to defend the Japanese Constitution, especially the Preamble and Article 9, which pledges never to wage war again.
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