Educating people, especially the young, about the need for world peace is an endeavor close to Masago Asai’s heart because many of her relatives suffered or died from cancer, an aftereffect of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.
This month Asai is coordinating "A-bombs Exhibit for Peace: Face the Past to Heal the Present," which will be open free to the public daily from Oct. 18 to 26 at the Palolo Hongwanji.
More than 700 students of all ages are scheduled to visit the exhibit, which is organized by the Hawaii Conference of Religions for Peace. Among the co-sponsors and supporters are several faith-based and school programs.
An award-winning peace advocate, Asai’s intent is to deliver a message from her mother, whose home was within a half-mile of the hypocenter of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.
"We have suffered enough for everyone; we do not want anyone else to suffer the way we have. Please learn from the tragedy and build our world with peace," Asai said. She added that "most of ‘hibakusha’ (A-bomb victims) sincerely wish us and our following generations to have a war-free, healthy and happy life."
The opening ceremony will start at 10 a.m., with Shigeko Sasamori, a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor, giving a talk titled "Love and Peace." The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except on Sundays, when hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A closing "Peace Prayer" ceremony, 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 26, will feature speaker Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s education college. Her talk is titled "Peace Education for the Youth."
The exhibit will depict the results of war and resources for peace-building, Asai said. "Materials of War" will include 30 posters featuring actual war images and statistics provided by Hiroshima and Nagasaki peace memorial museums, charts and graphs of nuclear testing, and edited films of nuclear destruction. "Materials for Inner Peace" will include posters, videos, students’ illustrations, books, a paper-cranes folding station, and meditation and healing sessions.
On Sunday the exhibit will receive The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii’s Healing Role in Hawaii Award. Since 2001, Asai has been a volunteer, serving as a dharma translator, at Palolo Hongwanji, secretary at HCRP and a public speaker on atomic bombings. In 2006 she received a "Hero of Forgiveness" award from The Hawaii Forgiveness Project. Later that year she was diagnosed with cancer. Five years ago Asai initiated "President Obama’s Peace Prayer Project" under HCRP and 39 religious organizations. The project sent prayers and a petition with more than 2,500 signatures to the White House.
For more information, visit www.atomicbombexhibitinhawaii.org or email hcrpinfo@gmail.com.
