Hiroshima University (HU) marked the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing on August 6 with its annual Peace Project at the Higashi-Senda Campus in Hiroshima City. The event, titled “Pursuing peace: A-bomb experiences in kamishibai and music,” was also part of HU’s 75+75th Anniversary Project. 

This year's peace project brought together approximately 200 participants, among them around 100 individuals from 22 countries who were participating in HU's summer program. 

After President Mitsuo Ochi's opening remarks, students from our partner institution, the University of Idaho, presented a kamishibai — a traditional form of Japanese street theater and storytelling involving illustrated paper slides — to recount the stories of those who lived through the atomic bomb. 

This kamishibai was created by students from the Hiroshima Municipal Motomachi Senior High School after listening to the experiences of A-bomb survivor Keiko Ogura. It was then translated into English by a group of students from the University of Idaho under Ogura’s supervision. 

Following the presentation, Ogura shared her thoughts embedded in the kamishibai and explained how the University of Idaho students became involved in the English translation. The audience listened intently. 

The event concluded with a short peace concert, featuring instruments crafted from trees that endured the nuclear explosion's aftermath. Since 2019, instruments have been fashioned using debris from houses and trees affected by the nuclear bomb. Currently, a viola, a cello, and two violins have been created, forming a string quartet performance. 

HU hopes these instruments will play a role in peacebuilding through their music.