Join the Peace Wave

Photo includes a banner sent to Dr. Rothauser (holding end portion), upon return from a recent trip to Japan. Also pictured are event members and some participants. There were Nine “Nuclear Candles” that represent the nuclear nine countries that we hope will see the light to nuclear disarmament. We distributed the Nuclear Warheads Stockpile flier from the PCU Nagasaki Council for Nuclear Weapons Abolition.*

By Christine DeTroy, WILPF Maine Branch

On Tuesday, October 24, 2017, the Maine Branch of WILPF hosted the second of a three-part series based on the Gensuikyo’s call for an international PEACE WAVE. We invited area residents to join in the celebration of this year's landmark UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the recent award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The event was scheduled to coincide with United Nations Day.

David Rothauser, a Massachusetts filmmaker, teacher and writer, presented his acclaimed film "Hibakusha: Our Right to Live." The film tells the story of Japanese, Korean and American survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki through the journey of Yoko and her music teacher who survived the Hiroshima bombing.  Yoko's journey is paralleled by that of David, an American boy who learns of the bombing through Hollywood movies and World War II propaganda. A discussion followed, including Dr. Rothauser’s comments on Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution -- the article that renounces war.

The final part of the Peace Wave is scheduled for Nov 14. It includes the film, “Command and Control,” along with two physicians from Maine’s Physicians for Social Responsibility who will speak about the public health impacts of Nuclear.

The group is very grateful for the support of a WILPF US Mini-Grant.

* Nagasaki University is the only university in the world that has inherited a medical college having experienced the atomic bombing. Achieving a “world free from nuclear weapons” is thus a paramount concern to the University. Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki University (RECNA), located in a city that was attacked by an atomic bomb, is an educational and research institute which is the interdisciplinary center of local academia with a firsthand experience of the horror of nuclear weapons.