A group of Hiroshima survivors and peace ambassadors representing the World Friendship Center in Japan will present a lecture and meet with students at Linfield College during an upcoming visit to Oregon.
The World Friendship Center Peace Ambassador Exchange Team will present “Voices from Hiroshima: The Atomic Bomb and Legacies of War” on Monday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Richard and Lucille Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall at Linfield.
The team, made up of 16 people including translators, will tell their stories of survival, hope and the rebuilding of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing in 1945. In addition to relating personal survival stories, group members will discuss the rebuilding of Hiroshima as a city of peace and nuclear issues, both past and present. The ambassadors will also discuss various features of Japanese culture such as the tea ceremony, Koto music, peace choir, flower arranging, decorative food carving, the ancient art of calligraphy and Sumi-e painting.
The Peace Ambassador Team will travel through Portland, Newberg, McMinnville, Amity, Sheridan and Salem from Sept. 18-23. The World Friendship Center in Hiroshima was founded 48 years ago to work toward world peace and eliminate nuclear weapons. Sending ambassador teams to tell the stories of survival, hope and rebuilding of Hiroshima after the atomic bombing in 1945 is one of the peace activities of the organization.
The event is sponsored and coordinated by JoAnn Sims, Linfield adjunct professor, and Larry Sims, honorary Linfield trustee, and the Linfield PLACE program (Program for Liberal Arts and Civic Engagement). For more information, contact Patrick Cottrell, pcottre@linfield.edu.
