Please listen to the voices of Hiroshima!

   An open letter to U. S. President Bush by an American student.



1.    Mason and his friends offering paper cranes they folded to the Statue for Children.
2.   Mason B. Horowitz and the group of AKP students revisited the Statue for Children of the A-bomb with Ms. Matsubara.(Mason is the second person from the right)



1.  The Doshisha Univerity's Associated Kyoto Program sponsored a tour to Hiroshima in which 40 students including Mason participated.  During the tour, they attended a talk given by Ms. Matsubara, an A-bomb survivor.

"Mr. President, please listen to the voices of Hiroshima".  Mason Benjamin Horowitz, a 20 year old American student studying at DoshishaUniversity in Kyoto wrote to President George Bush scheduled to visit Japan.  He sent the letter based on his feelings after listening to a talk given by a woman Hibakusha, to an US newspaper hoping that it will catch the eyes of the President.  He also wrote that he had learned about the A-bomb in high school (US) but was never taught the reality of many deaths of victims.

Horowitz came to Japan in September on a Study Abroad Program consisting of 15 American liberal art colleges.  He studies Japanese language and Buddhism in Doshisha Literature Department.

On the 14th of last month, he visited Hiroshima with 40 other students sponsored by the AKP Doshisha Center.  He visited the A-bomb Museum and listened to the talk by a woman Hibakusha learning that many citizens were burned to death. The talk was in English and they were shown scars of her burns.  After hearing her unforgettable relived experience, some members burst out in tears.  Horowitz said, "The reality of the A-bomb is much more horrible than what we had learned in our history lesson in high school.  It was very depressing but very, very moving and I thought I had to do something myself. He decided to write to President Bush." He wrote about his feelings about Hiroshima and how he was amazed that the Hibakusha showed no bitterness toward the US for dropping the bomb but rather was agonized over America's current calamity in Iraq.  He also said, "I do know that the failure to learn from old mistakes leads to new regrets.  Mr. President, please come to Hiroshima and listen to the Hibakusha's story". 

On the 18th of the previous month, he sent the letter to Chicago Tribune, his hometown, but as of today it has not been published yet.  He also said just like the situation in Iraq, it can be said the world is now in a panic. I want to appeal to the President and as many people as possible so that the A-bomb will not be used again."  He encouraged other students to write to newspapers in their hometowns and to other cities in the US (reported by    Saya Kato, Mainichi Newspaper, Nov.16, 2005) An open letter to Mr, Bush.

THE FEELING OF

       'A FRESH START TOWARD NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT'

  
At first, I hesitated in giving a talk about my experience as a Hibakusha to a group of exchange students because I was not confident of my English since I was hospitalized for 8 months due to a car accident.  But I agreed as I felt "it would be worth the effort". 

   What surprised me was that after my talk one of the participant, a young man, immediately wrote an open letter to US President George Bush.  I have given talks to many people for over 40 years and experienced many reactions but this was my first experience where someone took immediate action.  I was deeply moved and I felt that my prayer for nuclear disarmament has reached someone's ears.
 
 Less than a month later, he and his friends returned to Hiroshima to offer the paper cranes the exchange students and their host families folded at the Thanksgiving Party they held, to the Statue for the Children of the A-bomb. I was told that they all folded the paper cranes praying that no more children should suffer like Sadako who died of leukemia.  Whether and when the President would visit Hiroshima is another matter but I strongly feel that this young man's action is one step forward toward our goal in appealing for nuclear disarmament.  I also hope that this young man's actions will spread throughout the world especially within the young generation.              

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