Amid all the news about how much pigs love lipstick, something very different occured on Sept 7, 2008.
The Peace Boat sailed from Yokohama.
Now back when I was in the land of the Rising Sun, where life was beautiful and the trains ran on time-I used to see posters about this ship all the time in Yokosuka. The Peace Boat’s first voyage was organized in 1983 by a group of Japanese university students as a creative response to government censorship regarding Japan’s past military aggression in the Asia-Pacific. They chartered a ship to visit neighboring countries with the aim of learning first-hand about the war from those who experienced it and initiating people-to-people exchange. This voyage will represent the 63rd cruise.
Now mind you, sailing around the world for peace is not cheap-as I recall the price of a ticket was around 14000 dollars as I recall (1, 500,000 Yen), so it does require a certain amount of commitment. However I must admit, I always thought about what it would be like to voyage on the ship-especially once I was commited to coming to Shopping Mall USA and was depressed about leaving Japan.
This cruise seems like it will be unique though, the Hibakusha will be aboard:
YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) About 100 survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki departed Sunday from Yokohama on a voyage to pass on their experiences to people around the world.
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| We come in peace: A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki pose for a photo Sunday in Yokohama before embarking on a 103-day global tour to pass on their experiences to people around the world. KYODO PHOTO |
The survivors are participating in a tour organized by the nongovernmental organization Peace Boat aimed at promoting the abolition of nuclear weapons through the passing on of the personal stories of the victims. They hope such personal accounts will help people understand the reality of nuclear weapons.
At a press conference before departure, some of the participating A-bomb survivors and representatives from the countries that the vessel is scheduled to visit expressed excitement about the possible impact of the tour on audiences worldwide.