Dispatches from Nagasaki No.10
Peace and Green Boat calls on Nagasaki Port; Japanese and Korean passengers engage in discussions with students at Nagasaki University
(Nov.30, 2014)Peace and Green Boat, a vessel on which Japanese and Korean passengers contemplate peace and environmental issues as they travel around East Asia, arrived at Nagasaki Port on the seventh of November. During their stay in town, passengers visited Nagasaki University in order to exchange opinions with students on issues such as peace education and took part in on-board peace-related events such as testimonial talks by survivors of the atomic bombing.
While at the University, the Japanese and Korean passengers met with a group of fifty students which included visiting students from South Korea. The topics for discussion were “The peace education I received” and “What should be passed on to the next generation for the sake of peace?” (Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 9, 2014).
This is the second time that Peace and Green Boat, a program conducted by Japanese and Korean NGOs, has called on Nagasaki Port. The first time was during the maiden voyage of the vessel back in 2005. For the current journey the ship departed from Hakata Port with 500 people from each of the countries of Japan and Korea and traveled to South Korea, Taiwan and Okinawa in the period from October 30 to November 8.
At the on-board peace event on November 7, an opening message by Nagasaki Mayor Tomohisa Taue was followed by a talk by atomic bombing survivor Miyako Johdai about her experiences and a presentation by high school peace ambassadors on the state of their activities. In closing, Peace Boat Co-founder Tatsuya Yoshioka and South Korean Green Foundation President Choi Yul held a press conference to announce the adoption of A Declaration of Mutual Respect Between Citizens of Japan and South Korea and deliver the message that “It is necessary to start building a trustworthy relationship between our countries based on mutual respect” (Nagasaki Shimbun, Nov. 8).
The two representatives said that for next year’s cruise the ship will depart from Hakata Port on August 1 and travel to South Korea, Russia and Hokkaido (Otaru Port) before calling at Nagasaki on August 9. Plans call for passengers to learn about the atomic bombing in Nagasaki by participating in the Peace Memorial Ceremony and touring bomb-related relics.
The current voyage also provided an opportunity for Akira Kawasaki (45), Executive Committee member of Peace Boat and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), to discuss the contents of his book Kaku Heiki wo Kinshi Suru (Banning Nuclear Weapons) (Iwanami Shoten) with students at Nagasaki University and Kwassui Women’s College on November 5 and 6. According to reports, some students made skeptical comments like, “What is the point of debating this when countries are still maintaining nuclear weapons?” but Kawasaki advised that (existing) treaties banning inhuman weapons such as land mines should be referred to and that even students could develop frameworks for prohibiting nuclear weapons. He elaborated that “Our chances will increase if we do things like submit proposals to the Japanese government and send English translations of these overseas” (Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 9).
“Dispatches from Nagasaki” is a nuclear disarmament-related news article from RECNA.
ピース＆グリーンボート、日韓の客乗せ長崎寄港、長崎大学では学生と意見交換
(2014年11月30日)日本人と韓国人が共に船旅をしながら東アジアの平和と環境を考える「ピース＆グリーンボート」が11月７日、長崎市に寄港した。船内で被爆証言などの平和イベントがあったほか、乗船者が長崎大を訪れ、学生らと平和教育などについて意見交換した。
長崎大では、日韓の乗船者と、韓国からの留学生を含む学生合わせて約５０人が集まり、「自分が受けてきた平和教育」と「平和のために次世代に何を伝えたらいいか」をテーマに意見交換をした。（朝日新聞、2014年11月9日掲載記事引用）
ピース＆グリーンボートは日韓のＮＧＯが主催し、長崎寄港は２００５年の１回目の航海に続き２度目。日韓からそれぞれ５００人が乗船し、博多港発着で１０月３０日～１１月８日に韓国、台湾、沖縄を回った。７日に船内であったピースイベントでは、田上富久長崎市長があいさつを行い、それに続き、被爆者の城臺美彌子さんが被爆体験を語り、高校生平和大使らが活動を報告した。最後にピースボート吉岡達也共同代表と韓国の「環境財団」チョ・ヨル代表が記者会見を行い、「日韓市民相互尊重宣言」を採択し、「相互尊重に基づいた信頼関係を築く作業を始める必要がある」とのメッセージを打ち出した（長崎新聞、2014年11月8日掲載記事引用）
両代表によると、来年は８月１日に博多港を出港し、韓国、ロシア、北海道・小樽を回って、８月９日に長崎に寄港する。長崎では平和祈念式典に参加したり、被爆遺構をめぐったりして原爆について学ぶ予定。
また、これを契機に、ＮＧＯピースボートや核兵器廃絶国際キャンペーン（ＩＣＡＮ）の川崎哲さん（４５）が、５、６日は長崎市の長崎大と活水女子大で、自らの著書「核兵器を禁止する」（岩波書店）をテキストにしながら、学生と意見交換を行った。報道によると、学生からは「核保有国がいるなかで、そのような議論ができるのか」といった懐疑的な意見も出たが、川崎さんは、対人地雷などの非人道兵器の禁止条約を参考にすれば、学生でも核兵器禁止条約の骨子案を作ることができると助言し、「日本政府に提案したり、英訳して海外に発信したりすることでチャンスが広がる」と呼びかけた。（朝日新聞、2014年11月9日掲載記事引用）
