Obama’s Hiroshima Speech Critiqued by Japanese 9th Graders – KAHO

Tags

Hakuo, Hiroshima, MUSIC, Obama, WAR

This is one of seven papers written by my 9th grade students describing how they feel about President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima and the words he spoke there.  I will be posting the remaining six over the weekend.  This Independence Day weekend is an excellent time to post these kids’ thoughts — to remind us that America can find greatness not in making war, but in working for peace.  

 

 

I don’t know why President Obama came to Hiroshima. Some people said it is a wonderful thing, but I don’t think so. He came now, 71 years after the end of World War Two. His visit will not change anything.

One high school student said, “He is just kidding us.” He made some folded paper cranes for symbols of peace, but they are just origami and they can’t do anything. The dead of the war can never come back. Their families’ sadness can never end.

I don’t want President Obama to say I’m sorry because it’s useless and it’s too late. I want a real plan to make the world peaceful. No war any more! I thought that, of course, he had a plan, but I never heard that kind of thing. (Is it just my problem?) I think this is very regrettable.

I don’t know how the war was. Even a lot of adults don’t know about war. If Donald Trump becomes the next American president, maybe there will be another world war. No one I know wants war; we want to live safely and peacefully.

I think we all must learn more about war from many different angles and we must stop any new wars from happening. That is what we should do now and what I want President Obama to do. Nothing will change by just visiting Hiroshima, so I hope that President Obama will do more to show us the right path. One thing his visit taught me is that we have to learn more about war if we want to have peace in the future.

KAHO I. (15) Toshima Ward, Tokyo

 

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Obama’s Hiroshima Speech Critiqued by Japanese 9th Graders – REIKA

Tags

Atomic bomb, Hakuo, Hiroshima, Obama

This is one of seven papers written by my 9th grade students describing how they feel about President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima and the words he spoke there.  I will be posting the remaining six over the weekend.  This Independence Day weekend is an excellent time to post these kids’ thoughts — to remind us that America can find greatness not in making war, but in working for peace.  

US President Barack Obama hugs Shigeaki Mori (front), a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, during a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 27, 2016. Obama on May 27 paid moving tribute to victims of the world’s first nuclear attack. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON  CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR THE ACCOMPANYING MUSIC, ERIC CLAPTON’S “TEARS IN HEAVEN”

President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima was welcomed by Japanese very much. His desire to get rid of nuclear weapons has been known in Japan, so we had been expecting his visit.

His speech was widely broadcast and many Japanese felt it will definitely go down in history. I think it was a much bigger event for us than foreigners might think.

His visit made me realize how much Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims have been suffering from the effects of the nuclear bombs. Actually, young Japanese like me don’t know much about World War II. I felt so bad about my lack of knowledge when I saw the man cry as he was being embraced by President Obama. He was one of the bombing victims. He said that he had longed for this day and that he was moved strongly by President Obama’s enthusiasm. I thought the victims had nearly given up everything about the atomic bomb, but I was totally wrong; President Obama’s visit was partially a result of the victims efforts to spread the story about the misery of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I am sure that President Obama’s action will make people realize how badly Hiroshima and Nagasaki were damaged. To spread this fact is most the most important thing and the Japanese mission is to do so, not to request an apology. So, I want foreign people to know how those cities suffered and to reconsider having or using nuclear weapons.

REIKA (15) – Katsushika Ward