Musashino City-Sponsored "Nuclear Abolition Forum" Attended by 200 People: Reflecting on the Meaning of Peace on Children's Day

Pal System Consumers' Co-operative Union (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Chairman: Atsushi Shibusawa) and the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Headquarters: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Hiroshi Tanaka) co-hosted the "Peace and Nuclear Abolition Forum Vol. 4" (sponsored by Musashino City) on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 (holiday). Approximately 200 people connected online from the main venue, Musashino Place (Musashino City, Tokyo), and five group co-op venues, listening to testimonies of atomic bomb survivors and a talk session by young people advocating for nuclear abolition, and reflecting on the importance of peace in their daily lives.

Learning about the lives and thoughts of those under the mushroom cloud

The forum was held with the endorsement of 25 organizations to convey the tragedy of war and the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, and to create an opportunity for children to think about peace in a familiar way. Satellite venues were set up in Chiba, Ibaraki, Yamanashi, Fukushima, and Shizuoka prefectures, where testimonies of atomic bomb survivors and talk sessions were streamed.

The opening began with an explanation of the differences between the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Rika Watanabe of the international NGO Peace Boat asked the audience, which included elementary school students, "Have you ever heard of nuclear weapons?"

In Hiroshima, the slender "Little Boy" enriched with uranium exploded in the sky above the city with a fierce flash, while in Nagasaki, the spherical "Fat Man" that detonated plutonium exploded. It is said that these were dropped to test the differences in destructive power due to intense heat rays, high-pressure blast waves, and radiation.

"When I talk about atomic bombs overseas, I meet people who say 'I know' when I show them photos of the mushroom cloud taken from above. The atomic bomb survivors are the ones who testify about the people who were crushed by collapsed buildings due to the blast, burned all over by intense heat rays, and died from the effects of radiation even after surviving, all under the cloud that cannot be seen in the photos," said Watanabe, introducing Ms. Takako Kotani, who was exposed to the atomic bomb in Hiroshima at the age of 6.

▲Ms. Watanabe speaking, saying "Learn about the lives and thoughts of the many people under the cloud."

Sowing small seeds of peace around the world

Ms. Kotani learned ventriloquism during her time as a kindergarten teacher, and inspired by her mentor's words, "Continue to speak so that the damage will not fade," she has shared her experiences and the brutal reality of war. She uses a ventriloquist doll named "Acchan" to represent her younger brother, who died at the age of 3 from full-body burns from the atomic bomb, and engages in dialogue.

On August 6, 1945, when her four siblings ran out to play in the river, the atomic bomb was dropped. Ms. Kotani, who had returned indoors to drink water, was caught in a gap between a collapsed pillar and wall, escaping with only minor scratches. Looking outside, people whose bodies were burned to the core by heat rays of 3,000-4,000 degrees Celsius came fleeing like ghosts, holding out their hands and saying, "Give me water."

Ms. Kotani, who said she was "just standing there, terrified, watching" people jump into the river behind her due to the intense heat and die one after another, saw her older sister and younger brother return with full-body burns, and her older brother with glass shards embedded in him. Four mornings later, her unconscious younger brother woke up, and when she gave him water, he said, "Mom, airplanes are scary. Water is delicious," and then passed away.

Her mother, who collected the rubble of their house and cremated her son with her own hands, began to care for children orphaned by the atomic bomb after the war. When Ms. Kotani asked her mother to take care of her instead of other children, her mother replied, "You have your mother returning home at night. Those children's parents will never return. Be a person with a rich heart who can cherish others even in difficult times." Her mother also died of leukemia from atomic bomb disease when Ms. Kotani was in the sixth grade of elementary school.

Ms. Kotani has visited 23 countries around the world with Peace Boat, engaging in testimony activities. "Children always ask if I hate America. When I tell them, 'Atomic bomb survivors didn't come to express hatred, but to ask to join hands and create a world without war and nuclear weapons,' they respond that they will abolish them in their generation, and I have been able to sow small seeds of peace around the world," she said, expressing her determination to continue her testimony as long as she lives and pass on the baton of peace.

▲Testifying about her atomic bomb experience in dialogue with Acchan ▲Acchan interacting with children at the venue

Sharing "Moments of Peace" and "Barriers in Conveying"

The talk session featured Hideo Asano and Emiri Kiba from the Japan Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and Rika Watanabe, with Yuta Takahashi, Representative Director of Katabara General Incorporated Association (Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture), serving as moderator.

At the beginning, Mr. Takahashi called on the audience, including those at satellite venues, to "share your moments of peace with the person next to you." From the Ibaraki venue, participants responded with "When everyone gathers to talk about peace," and in Yamanashi, "The ordinary daily life of playing with friends and eating meals every day," with children also participating. He also mentioned that "ordinary daily life" was a top answer in a prior survey of 1,300 people.

Ms. Watanabe, a parent, said "