LBJCC Presents ‘Shadows for Peace’
From left: Robert Horsting, co-producer of Shadows for Peace, Dana Vinke and Cynthia Aguado of Torrance Public Library, and Richard Fukuhara, founder of Shadows for Peace, who presented the library with a “For the Sake of the Children” print in September 2016.
“Those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.” Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
LONG BEACH — On Sunday, March 12, the Long Beach Japanese Cultural Center will present “Shadows for Peace, for the Sake of the Children: The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Experience,” a forum and art exhibit.
Atomic bomb survivors or hibakusha (literally “explosion-affected people”) will share their experiences of Aug. 6 and 9, 1945. The featured speakers will include Junji Sarashina and Toshiharu Kano. Also, artworks created from hibakusha stories and hopes for world peace will be exhibited.
On Aug. 6, over 70,000 died within a week, and close to 200,000 people were injured. Among the injured, 70,000 died by the end of 1945 in Hiroshima. On Aug. 9, an estimated 40,000 were killed in Nagasaki with 40,000 injured. By the end of 1945, the combined estimated number of victims who died from the effects of the bombs was over 220,000.
Among those killed in Hiroshima were an estimated 1,000 Japanese Americans. In the 1970s, it was confirmed that 12 U.S. airmen, who were POWs, were also victims of the Hiroshima atomic blast.
The intent of “Shadows for Peace” is not to debate the whys or wherefores of the dropping of the atomic bombs, but to educated and engage attendees regarding the horrific destructive power of nuclear weapons, which today are hundreds of times more powerful and deadly.
Shadows for Peace is a 501c3 non-profit.
LBJCC is located at 1766 Seabright Ave. in Long Beach. Art exhibit starts at 1:30 p.m. and program at 2 p.m. Free admission. Seating is limited; RSVP to richard@shadowsforpeace.com or leave a message at (714) 998-8790.
Atomic bomb survivors Wataru Namba, Junji Sarashina, Toshiharu Kano and Kaz Suyeishi (not pictured) spoke during a Shadows for Peace program at Torrance Public Library in September 2016. (J.K. YAMAMOTO/Rafu Shimpo)