WFC News

World Friendship Center’s statement against
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

2022-03-10 | Comments Off on World Friendship Center’s statement against
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

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World Friendship Center’s statement against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

 

We urge the Russian troops to stop their attacks on the Ukrainian people and withdraw from Ukraine immediately.

 

On February 24th, 2022, as the world looked on, Russian forces illegally invaded Ukraine.  The war has forced millions of Ukrainians to leave the country and the indiscriminate bombing of residential areas in Ukraine has killed many civilians.  The recklessness at which Russia attacked a nuclear power plant was unfathomable. We strongly condemn this hegemonic military invasion.

 

And even worse, Russian President Vladimir Putin by putting his nuclear weapons arsenal on high alert, is moving the world even closer to a cataclysmic war that could threaten the future of our civilization.

 

Hibakusha, who experienced the A-bomb that exploded over Hiroshima, know the devastation wrought by a nuclear bomb.  Their message to the world is clear.  What happened here in Hiroshima almost 77 years ago, and three days later in Nagasaki, must never happen again.

 

We know that nuclear arsenals do not bring about security nor peace. Until the day the threat of nuclear weapons is eliminated from the earth, we will continue to cooperate and appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons together with people around the world.

 

Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people, and we join with all those that are speaking out, to put an end to this conflict. 

 

March 10, 2022
NPO World Friendship Center 

Concurred with by:
American Committee of World Friendship Center, McMinnville, Oregon
Peace Resource Center of Wilmington College, Wilmington Ohio

 

Peace Concert in Support of WFC

2022-03-07 | Comments Off on Peace Concert in Support of WFC

peace concert in support of WFCIn October of 2021, a church in Oregon in the United States, McMinnville Baptist Church, put on a  World Friendship Center.  Ed Groff, of Brethren Voices, has produced a program from the concert, along with images from Hiroshima filmed by Brent Carlson when he visited WFC in November of 2019 .  Mike Stern and Bill Jolliff were the featured musicians for the concert.

 

WFC is very familiar with Mike Stern since he has come to Hiroshima to share his music in the past.  Bill Jolliff is a professor of English at George Fox University, a school founded by Quakers in Oregon.  Both Mike and Bill’s music bring themes of peace, and justice, and faith and our need to act when we see an injustice in the world.

 

Personally, we are good friends with Mike, Brent and Ed and have met Bill in the past.  What a wonderful gift they have given us by capturing these songs from the concert.   We also want to thank the McMinnville Baptist church for their support for World Friendship Center by putting on this concert.  Though we are sure there were many helping hands to put on such an event, we wanted to recognize Erika Marksbury, pastor of the church, and Larry and JoAnn Sims, church members.  Erika, Larry and JoAnn are on the board of the WFC support organization, The American Committee of WFC, and Larry and JoAnn are past volunteer directors at WFC (2011-2013).



In these past two years during the pandemic there has been such an outpouring of support for WFC by the many friends of WFC over the years.  As our motto “fostering peace, one friend at a time” and our name “World Friendship Center” makes obvious, friends and friendship are at the core of WFC’s purpose to spread peace to the world.



And now the concert from Ed Groff of Brethren Voices:

Our February edition of “Brethren Voices” featured the concert that Mike Stern and Bill Jolliff did in October for the World Friendship Center.  You’ll find it on: WWW.Youtube.com/Brethrenvoices 

 

Roger and Kathy Edmark
Volunteer Directors (2019-2022)
World Friendship Center

 

Chugoku Newspaper – WFC Booklet

2022-01-12 | Comments Off on Chugoku Newspaper – WFC Booklet

Chugoku Newspaper Article 2022.01.12January 12th, 2022

Happy New Year to all.
Thank you very much for always supporting the World Friendship Center.
We hope 2022 will be a great year for all of us.

 

Immediately after the beginning of the new year, Hiroshima experienced a rapid spread of coronavirus infection and declared a semi-emergency coronavirus measures. This is quite unfortunate, after spending a somewhat peaceful period from the fall to the end of the year.

 

But good news has come to wipe out such a stifling mood.
An article was published on Chugoku Newspaper this morning, January 12th, 2022, titled,  
“WFC published a booklet: Remembering Barbara Reynold’s Thoughts.”
We are truly grateful for having WFC covered in the article like this.

 

Barbara Reynolds, an American woman, appealed for the “total abolition of nuclear weapons,” from an early-stage walking alongside the hibakusha and their struggles. Unfortunately, the fact is that it’s difficult to find a person who knows about her in Hiroshima, 77 years after the a-bombing.

 

Barbara, who always walked alongside the hibakusha said,

“I, too, am a hibakusha”

We, a generation who knows neither about the a-bomb or the restoration after the war, still continue to think about how Barbara Reynolds, an American, attained this state of mind in the a-bombed Hiroshima.

 

WFC BookletThe booklet introduced in the newspaper were made by WFC’s “Future Committee” in hope that it will help as many people as possible to learn about Barbara Reynolds’ thoughts and the World Friendship Center. We tried to make the contents understandable, with children visiting Hiroshima on school trips in mind. The booklet is available in Japanese and English and is given out for free.
If you wish to have a copy, please contact WFC.

 

Read the booklet “Barbara Reynolds and WFC” >

 

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【English translation of the Chugoku Newspaper article 2022.01.12
 
The World Friendship Center (WFC, Chairperson Michiko Yamane), a Non-Profit Organization located in Nishi-ward, Hiroshima, created a booklet about the life of Barbara Reynolds (1915~1990), WFC’s founder and a peace activist. The booklets are available in Japanese and English.
 
Those affiliated with WFC say that their wish is for many people to know about Barbara, who walked alongside the hibakusha through their struggles, and to understand her heart when she said, “I, too, am a Hibakusha.”
 
She came to Hiroshima in 1951 with her husband who was dispatched to ABCC (Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, currently Radiation Effect Research Foundation). Her thoughts against nuclear weapons grew. The booklet introduces the brave actions she took such as the voyages by yacht to protest the nuclear testing done by the U.S. and U.S.S.R., and the “World Peace Pilgrimage,” in which she, along with hibakusha, conveyed the tragedy of the atomic bombing in various countries. It also notes that WFC, which was founded in 1965 with the late Dr. Tomin Harada, has a motto which is based on the belief that “building friendship by people meeting and talking to each other is what leads to peace.”
 
WFC has since been a place where people from around the world gather and listen to the testimonies of hibakusha who voluntarily share their experiences. However, due to COVID, the number of foreign tourists visiting Hiroshima has been drastically decreased. Mr. Katsumi Takahashi (72), a Board member, says, “we felt that this was the time to strengthen how we send out the message of peace, and that’s what we put into this booklet.”
 
“Barbara Reynolds and World Friendship Center” is printed in A-5size, 8pages, in Japanese and English, and is available free of charge. Please contact 082 (503) 3191.
 
 

Online Hibakusha Testimony
Center for Foreign Language Education, Shimane University

2021-12-23 | Comments Off on Online Hibakusha Testimony
Center for Foreign Language Education, Shimane University

On December 17, we had an online Hibakusha Testimony (with English interpretation) for the students taking the Global Understanding course at The Center for Foreign Language Education, Shimane University.

Over 45 students and teachers joined online from Japan, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and the U.S.

Before hearing the testimony, WFC gave a short introduction on the “History of Hiroshima.”

Then, Mr. Goro Nishida, who experienced the atomic bombing at the age of three shared his testimony.

During the Q&A, unique questions from a student’s perspective were asked, also helping us to learn.

 

2021.12.17_Online Hibakusha Testimony with Shimane University 2021.12.17_Online Hibakusha Testimony with Shimane University

 

Providing opportunities for people from around the world to hear testimonies from hibakusha is an important mission of WFC.

We would like to thank Carmella Lieske who contacted us and worked with us to make this happen, and for all of the help from the faculty and staff at The Center for Foreign Language Education.

“International Festa 2021”

2021-11-26 | Comments Off on “International Festa 2021”
International Festa 2021On Saturday, November 20th, 2021, WFC participated in the “22nd International Festa.”
 
The title of WFC’s presentation for the event was, “Barbara Reynolds who walked alongside the Hibakusha” which was presented both in English and Japanese.
 
We would like to thank everyone who joined to hear our presentations.
 
The first thing we wished to share was about an American woman in Hiroshima named Barbara Reynolds who, as the title says, “walked alongside the hibakusha.”
 
The second was that there is a peace organization in Hiroshima called the “World Friendship Center” which Barbara founded that is still actively working based on her vision.
 
And the third was about the many Directors who have come to Japan from the U.S. over the years as volunteers to work together with us.
 
Though we could not see your faces, since the presentations were done online, it is our hope that we conveyed the story of Barbara Reynolds, the American woman who continued to walk alongside the hibakusha in Hiroshima.
 
We were told that the recording of the event will be open to the public for a limited time, so once we receive more information about it, we will let you know.
 
We would like to convey our deep gratitude to SHINOMOTO GROUP who gave us technical support and to Hiroshima Peace Culture Center for sponsoring this event.
 
See more photos on the WFC Official Facebook Page >>