As part of its 75+75th Anniversary Project, Hiroshima University invited students from partner universities and other universities around the world to participate in the “Peace Study Tour 2024” on August 6, Peace Memorial Day.

One hundred and fifteen participants from 45 universities in 19 countries attended the tours, along with 77 HU students, who participated in five summer programs covering a diverse range of topics. The programs focused on solving global issues such as diversity and inclusion, world peace and political justice, positive peace and SDG-based natural resource management, higher education of the future, and the social role of artificial intelligence (AI), and ran for 8-10 days beginning in early August.

Participants with diverse backgrounds received lectures from experts and practitioners in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, deepened their knowledge through field visits, and exchanged multifaceted views on given issues and peacebuilding through group work and discussions. All courses offered interdisciplinary learning by taking advantage of Hiroshima University's strengths in “comprehensive knowledge.”

From August 4 to 6, students listened to lectures on the atomic bombing, visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, participated in the Peace Memorial Ceremony, and took part in the Hiroshima University Peace Planning Project.

One of the participating international students commented, “Peace is not a one-time achievement, but a continuous process. To achieve sustainable peace, a wide range of negotiations, a lot of time, and cooperation with many people are indispensable. The experience in Hiroshima was a great opportunity to deepen such understanding and to think about how to contribute to society in my own country.” Other comments include, ”The history of Hiroshima, a symbol of peace and reconstruction, has reinforced the importance of our mission to resolve conflicts and maintain harmony. I would like to use the knowledge I gained here to propose comprehensive and sustainable solutions to promote peace and reconciliation in my country,” and, ”Although the students came from diverse backgrounds, the common goal of realizing and promoting peace created a sense of unity among us, and we were able to learn from each other.” The students also commented on how they learned the importance of unity in building peace.

We hope that the participants who completed the tour will become the next generation of peacemakers who can contribute to the well-being of humankind through their experiences, and we will continue to enhance the program in the coming year and beyond with the aim of fostering human resources who can contribute to world peace by exploring solutions to global issues through reason and dialogue. We will continue to provide opportunities for students to think for themselves with the aim of “the creation of peace” while adhering to one of the five principles of Hiroshima University, “the pursuit of peace”.

Arizona State University［U.S.A.］
Columbia University［U.S.A.］
James Madison University [U.S.A.]
University of Texas at Austin [U.S.A.]
Purdue University [U.S.A.]
Universidad Nacional del Litoral [Argentina]
Kingston University [U.K.]
De Montfort University [U.K.]
School of International Relations of Foreign Ministry of I.R.I [Iran]
North Eastern Hill University [India]
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia [Indonesia]
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY JAKARTA (UIN) [Indonesia]
Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember [Indonesia]
Universitas Padjadjaran [Indonesia]
Parahyangan Catholic University [Indonesia]

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies [Korea]
Institute of Technology of Cambodia [Cambodia]
Royal University of Agriculture [Cambodia]
Royal University of Law and Economics [Cambodia]
National University of Management [Cambodia]
Nanyang Technological University [Singapore]
World Maritime University [Sweden]
Malmö University [Sweden]
Rovira i Virgili University [Spain]
Kasetsart University [Thailand]
Prince of Songkhla University [Thailand]
Mahidol University [Thailand]
Mae Fah Luang University [Thailand]
Changchun University [China]
Beijing Normal University [China]

European University Viadrina [Germany]
Universität Osnabrück [Germany]
Ateneo de Manila University [Philippines]
UNIVERSITY OF ST. LA SALLE [Philippines]
Central Luzon State University [Philippines]
De La Salle University [Philippines]
University of Philippines Diliman [Philippines]
Mindanao State University [Philippines]
Lyceum of the Philippines University - Batangas [Philippines]
Universiti Malaya [Malaysia]
Universiti Teknologi MARA [Malaysia]
UNIVERSITY OF MALAYSIA SABAH [Malaysia]
Stellenbosch University [South Africa]
Chiang Mai University [Myanmar]
University of Tsukuba [Japan]