HU holds Summer Program for Peace and Law 2016 (Brazil)

This year a summer program was held at Hiroshima University (HU) from July 27 through August 6 in coordination with the University of Sao Paulo (USP) in Brazil, one of our academic exchange agreement partners, on the subject of “Peace and Law.” Led by Prof. Masato Ninomiya, one of HU’s visiting professors from the Faculty of Law at USP, 13 law students from USP participated.

The main theme of the program was “Peace and Law,” and it included three subjects; (1) Law Lectures, (2) Japanese Language and Culture Experience, and (3) Peace Learning. In addition to attending lectures held by the teaching staff of the Faculty of Law at HU, for (1) students visited a district court where they attended a trial as an audience. For (2), not only did they attend Japanese language and calligraphy classes, but they also visited an old, traditional house (kominka) in Shiwabori where they experienced Japanese summer culture by enjoying “flowing noodles” (somen nagashi) and a game of "split-the-watermelon." Finally, for (3), they were able to deepen their understanding of the tragedy caused by the atomic bomb by attending the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6.

Prof. Ninomiya also paid a courtesy call to President of HU Dr. Ochi for a round-table discussion. Prof. Ninomiya received a letter of appreciation from Dr. Ochi for his significant contributions toward the academic exchanges between the two universities.

The participants learned much about the importance of peace as well as about Japanese society and culture through this program. We expect that they will convey their experiences in Hiroshima to many people after returning home to Brazil. We also hope that, as friends of Japan, they will help to deepen the bonds between our two countries.