A Short Guide to New Years in Japan

It’s the last month of 2007. How were your days in Japan this year? I hope you all are enjoying your life here. I’m so sorry about the situation of the NOVA teachers. They must feel so disappointed in Japan.

It seems the world is getting worse year by year… but still, we wish for something better at every year’s end.

So, this essay is about the New Year! As you know, the New Year has always been a big event for Japanese people. But, like other traditions or customs, it is changing a lot as our society changes. Still, you can find a lot of interesting Japanese things in this season. I think you have been aware that the goods in DIY shops or supermarkets are different this month. Yes, it's time for shopping for the New Year! For example, you’ve probably seen presents, goods for house cleaning, the New Year's displays, and food for the New Year. I'll try to write about what we do in this season. Different areas have very different customs for the New Year, even in this small country, so this is what I do here, in Saku. Why don't you enjoy the Japanese New Year with us?

1. Sending Presents
At the end of the year we send some presents to the people we want to say thank you. Some companies send to their customers, and some people send to their bosses. The presents are usually food, and I sent boxes of apples.
Some shops or barbers give us small things like towels or a small animal figure carving. This year the animal must be a rat or mouse. Why rat? It's from Chinese astrology and we use twelve animals for each year.You can find rats on New Year cards, displays, or ads next year.

2. House Cleaning
We say that December is the busiest month because we have a lot of things to do in the month. House cleaning must be the biggest trouble for families. Schools or offices also clean their buildings before the New Year holidays. I hate cleaning in the cold season, but the neat clean house with new white sliding paper doors make us feel that the New Year is coming. My son's wife is now scrubbing her oven in the kitchin!.

3. Writing New Year's Cards
The post offices deliver the New Year cards on the New Year's day. So, we usually write cards and post them before the New Year.The cards are sometimes sent just to say hello or to keep in touch. My husband and I usually sent about two hundred and fifty cards and got the same. But this year we will write much less, I think. Many of the people wrote their cards with brush and black ink before, but these days we get many cards just printed and without any handwriting. Some young people put their families' pictures on their cards while their children are little and cute. and they are proud of them.

4. Displays for the New Year
At the entrance of the house we put kadomatsu, which means 'a pine tree at the entrance'. Why pine? We often use pine trees and bamboos to celebrate things because they are green even in the cold. You see them in many kinds of Japanese arts like paintings, kimonos, or stage back of no and kyogen. At big stores or companies you can find big and beautiful kadomatsu.
We decorate tokonoma, the alcove, with flowers and a hanging scroll for the New Year. .

5. Preparing Food
Some days before the New Year, we make mochi, rice cake. Before, we used a mortar to make it,but now we use an electric mochi- making machine. When we make mochi, we also make some large round mochi to serve gods and they are called 'kagamimochi'
We prepare the food for the New Year before it. Everything is put in three square meal boxes, which are usually lacquered . The food inside may be different in each area, but we usually put beans, herring roe, and red and white food. Beans has the same sound as 'good health' in Japanese word. Herring roe is a symbol of a big family or prosperity of a family. White and red is the color of celebrating.
But today, people are busy, and don't like cooking with troubles, ,and so, many of them buy delicatessen. You can see every food for the New Year at supermarkets.

6. Dinner on the Eve
It's time for families to get together. Sons and daughters who are living apart come back to their parents. Nagano -ken is a area that send young people to big cities, so, we see families with more members than usual at this time of the year around here. All the family members get together for the dinner of the New Year's eve. Some people have soba for a snack that night. They say the long noodles mean a long life.
At midnight, temples boom their bells one hundred and eight times. In Buddism, they think that we have 108 anxieties in life , and with the sound of temple bell, they disappear. When I hear the boom in the dark, cold night, I feel the year is over.

7. What Do We Do on the New Year's Day?
Nothing special. Before, they must have a lot to do, I think. But there's no rules now. Usually the family members have breakfast together with some spiced sake. The main dish is 'zoni', mochi in the soup. Some people get up very early and see the first sun rise in the year. Some people go to temples or shrines to pray. Children like to play cards. 'Hyakunin-issyu' is an old Japanese card game, which has one hundred short poems on each card. Some go shopping, some join running meet, some climb mountains. And many watch TV. There must be people who spend the holiday sleeping. You know we work too hard.
Visiting temples or shrines for the first time in the year is called 'hatsumode'. Our religion is so practical, and many pray for their happiness , good health, good luck, prosperity, passing entrance exams, and so on. But many people just enjoy going out and walking among the crowd like a festival, I htink .For some people, it's a chance to wear kimono. Many visit temples and shrines at the midnight of December 31st.
Some people write their first calligraphy on the second day. Students usually have a homework to write.

8. New Year Shpping
Shops and stores have sale at the begining of the year. Some big stores open even on the New Year's day these days. Children get money from their parents or uncles and aunts as presents, and so they go and buy toys and so on. I worry about shop workers .They have Christmas sale, year-end sale and the New Year sale! Take care!

9. Dondoyaki Bonfire
We take off the New Year displays on January 7th. Usually children gather them from houses, and make a bonfire, but the way how to have the bonfire and the name of it are very different. So if you want to see it, ask your Japanese friend living there. Children put their caligraphy paper in the fire or bake their rice cake with the fire.

Each towns and villages have many other events around the New Year, and those local events are interesting, I think. And as I wrote, different area has different New Year traditions. You can find interesting customs in your area if you visit Japanese families or join events. What interests you?

I wish you all a happy New Year!

Simple Snacks in Fall

Simple Snacks in Fall

Do you like Japanese food? Have you found any favorite foods here? I love eating, of course, and delicious dishes make me happy. In fall and winter we have many kinds of wonderful food, and I have to worry about my weight! In this essay, I'd like to introduce you some of our simple but good snacks in this season.

When I go shopping at big supermarkets, I sometimes feel dizzy with the amount of food from all over the world. Do we eat it all? They say that the half of the world is starving, but we have this much food
here. It makes me feel slightly guilty.

1. Yakiimo (baked sweet potatoes)

This is a very simple snack, just bake a potato, but a hot and sweet potato makes us so happy, especially on a cold day. In winter you will find a strange truck on the streets, which whistles or sometimes calls "yakiimo." It has an oven on it, which is baking potatoes.
I sometimes find yakiimo stalls in front of big DIY stores or supermarkets.
The most interesting and fun way of making yakiimo is to put sweet potatoes
in a pile of fallen leaves and bake them. Some days ago, my grandson Tomo wanted to do it and we built a fire with fallen leaves and baked potatoes from our vegetable garden in it . The potatoes were good, but a part of our lawn was burnt! Will it be green next spring? I 'm afraid...

You can make yakiimo on a kerosene heater or a wood stove. Wrap a sweet potato with a wet piece of newspaper, then wrap it with aluminum foil. Put it on a heater until you can smell an appetizing aroma.

2. Hoshiimo (dried sweet potatoes)

Again, sweet potatoes! There are many ways to make sweet snacks or dishes from sweet potatoes, but this may be the oldest and simplest way to eat them. Slice the boiled or steamed sweet potatoes and dry them in the sun. Drying makes the potato sweeter and it was also the way to preserve　it a long time ago. You can also find hoshiimo in a supermarket or a grocery store in this season.

I made it myself this year. (This year I have a lot of time, and I live with my grandsons who are always hungry.) While the potato slices are drying in the garden, some of the pieces often disappear. I suspect my grandchildren and my husband are guilty!


3. Hoshigaki (dried persimmon)

It's the season for persimmons now. You see many family gardens have one or two persimmon trees. The fruits are beautiful on the tree, but some of them have an astringent taste. We peel them and dry them in the sun so they turn sweet. Ina and Iida area is famous for this product, and you will see the persimmon curtains in the sun during this season there. Soon you can find them at supermarkets.
I peeled about 50 persimmons and hung them outside. Everyday Tomo says to me, "Can I eat it today, Grandma?" But not yet. Maybe in ten days or so.

In winter we often see persimmons left on the trees. It must show that people prefer cakes or candies to persimmons, or they don't have time to peel and dry persimmons. Maybe there's no one who can pick them from the tree because an old woman lives there alone. That's the scene I imagine.

4. Taiyaki

Taiyaki is a kind of pie or pancake with anko (bean jam) inside. It has the shape of a fish, "tai," or sea bream. ( I found this word in my dictionary now!) Usually we get them at a small shop or a stall where they bake them. Why is it tai, or sea bream? I don't know, but tai is a happy and celebratory fish in Japan. We sometimes find the same kind of sweets with other shapes.

There's a great taiyaki shop in Saku City. Its name is Shinkai.(I haven't taken any advertisement charges.) Its taiyaki is the best I have ever had. My younger son's girlfriend(now his wife) loves it, and whenever she comes from Tokyo she rushes to get it. So, one of our presents for their wedding was Shinkai's taiyaki.


5. Oyaki
Many of you have read the word, "Oyaki" on a festival flag or something like it. It is a popular snack from Naganoken now and you see them often, but originally it was made by poor farmers in mountainous areas. They could not get enough rice to eat, so they made oyaki from wheat flour and vegetables from their gardens. Soba has the same origin. Anyway, both are delicious, and I like oyaki. However, you have to be careful choosing. As a result of getting popular and famous, some of them take easy ways to make it.

6. Mochi (rice cake)

We have many kinds of food and snacks made from rice. Mochi, a rice cake, is an important food for the New Year or to celebrate something. There are many types of mochi and various ways to enjoy mochi. Every family used to make mochi by hand before the new year. It was an important part of preparing for the new year. But today, many people don't do this work anymore, so you can get mochi at a supermarket. You can try cooking it yourself. You can toast, fry, or boil it in a soup. Did you know cheese or butter goes well with mochi?

In supermarkets, you see huge piles of snack bags like potato chips, but it's difficult to find the snacks I introduced. Yes, young people prefer those snacks with a lot of chemical seasonings to the old, simple-tasting food without ads on TV. You know which is better to train a palette for food and to keep us healthy, of course...

On 11/26/07, Abigail Augusta Rogosheske wrote:

Education in Japan: Problems and Potential

Many of the readers of my blog are teachers who teach English at Japanese schools, I guess. You are watching students, teachers, or classes everyday. Also, you understand (or sometimes don't understand) what's going on at schools or within education in Japan.　I have been teaching at schools for more than thirty years, (I am still teaching some students who are not attending school), and I worry about education and the future of this country.

Before WWII, higher education was only for rich people and for men, not women. Nationalism and militarism prevailed in schools, and so, no one could teach against the nation. When we started the new constitution after the war, education was also quite changed. The basic law about education, which was changed last year even though many people were against the change, said, "We should rely on education to realize our ideal to make a peaceful country, which is prescribed in our constitution.”

However, Japan is changing a lot for two reasons, I think. First, the new conservatives are getting power. (The reason should be discussed.) Second, globalization and new liberalism, which emphasizes free market, are destroying people's life, as in other countries. The government, which obeys those two masters, has intended to control education--sometimes with an iron fist.

Did you hear the news of the big gathering in Okinawa about the school textbooks? The people of Okinawa were against erasing the fact of the war in Okinawa from the history textbooks. In Japan, the government checks all the textbooks that will be used at schools and when they find descriptions or pages that they don't like, they demand the publishing companies to rewrite them. So, publishing companies make only textbooks the government prefers and children are taught with those textbooks.

One more example: Do you know the national anthem of Japan? The government demands schools to sing it, and the teachers to teach it to children. But there are many problems with it. For example, the words of the song celebrate the Emperor. This doesn’t seem appropriate for the anthem of a democratic nation. In addition, the anthem was sung when Japan was ruled by militarism. There are many people who don't want to listen to the song, especially in Asia, because people were forced to sing it, which infringed upon their liberty and spirits, etc. A lot of people opposed the way the government forced the anthem on schools and teachers, but at last the government made a law to make students sing the song. These two examples show that the government is intending to go backward to nationalism and not regarding democracy and people's rights as important.

The government of Japan is trying to reduce the money for education (How much money is used for useless places!), and so, as you see, a class has many students, teachers' work seems endless and they are tired and losing their pride and creativity. When teachers are not creative and liberal, education must be conservative and it's just what the government wants. Only children with parents who can pay for the private schools or the cram schools can get better education and better jobs. The difference of their parents' income decides the children's future, and class distinction will be fixed in the society. I worry about the children and their future… the future of our society.

You, as foreign teachers, are eyewitnesses to the education in Japan. Education is a very important factor of culture and future of the country. I would like to know what you think of it. Feel free to write to me. Leave a comment with any new insight.

Great Spots for "Momiji"

I'm sorry I didn't write for a long time, but I was a little busy. More than that, I have been thinking about what I should write. I started writing about two or three topics like festivals or events in fall and witer, a short history of education in Japan, or some recipes of Japanese dishes. However, I'm not sure what you, the readers, are interested in and what I should write about. If you can, could you tell me what kind of information you want, or what you want to know about Japan, Nagano, or people's life?

Anyway, it's a beautiful season here in Nagano. You see golden rice fields and people harvesting. Among many kinds of crops, rice is special for us. Leaves of trees are turning red or yellow, and we love this season and like going out. Nagano Prefecture has a lot of beautiful places people want to visit on holidays. (You see traffic jams on holidays.) I feel I'm lucky to live here and enjoy beautiful sights.

You can enjoy autumn colors everywhere, but these are my special recommendations:

* Around Yatsugatake Mountains: Yachiho Nature Park, Matsubara Lake, Nobeyama, etc.
* Around Mt. Asama: Karuizawa, Shiraitonotaki Falls, Onioshidashi, Kusatsu, Takamine highlands, etc.
* Around Mt. Tateshina: Kirigamine highlands, Shirakaba highlands, Kasuga ravine, etc.
* Komoro Kaikoen Park
* Bessho area including temples and shrines (Ueda City)

These are all in the east part of Nagano Pref. I'm sorry, but I don't know much about other areas. Ask anyone near you where to go to enjoy "momiji," (red and yellow turned leaves), and they will like to tell you their favorite places.

Driving is wonderful, but walking with a map may be better, I think. Peering into gardens, talking to the people in the fields, looking up at apples on the treees, and picking up chestnuts and acorns at your feet must be fun.

Winter will come in a month, and before that, we have to prepare for the cold season. They say this is one of the coldest places in Japan, and the northern part of Naganoken has much snow. You can find interesting things here, even though the snow and cold freeze us!

Fall Is A Good Season For Trips

Fall is another good season for trips because we have many holidays and the heat of summer has gone. I would like to introduce you to some places to visit on beautiful fall days.


1. Zenkouji Temple (Nagano City)

Zenkouji is a famous temple not only in Nagano Prefecture but also all over Japan, and many people visit it to pray even from other prefectures. It was founded during 7th century, but was burnt down many times. The building we see now, which is a national treasure, was built in the 17th century. You'll find a big gate with a pair of guardian gods, a big incense burner, many kind of statues, stone lanternes, and so on.

Nagano city is a town built originally for the visitors to Zenkoji, with many inns, shops, and restaurants. When you walk along the street to Zenkoji, you can see them.

As a student, I sometimes escaped from classes and spent time in the gardens of Zenkoji with a book or to chat with friends.

You can take a bus to Zenkoji from in front of Nagano Station.


2. Matsumoto-jo Castle (Matsumoto City)

We had many castles before Meiji Restoration, and they must have been valuable. However, many of them were broken or sold out because they were a symbol of the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the government, or the lords of the area.

Matsumoto-jo is one of the few remains, though we cannot see its entirety. Tennsyukaku, the main building, was built in 16th century. It is a national treasure, and has a beautiful shape against the high mountains, called Japanese Alps. You can walk up to the top of the building and see the structure of it. While you can find magnificent pictures or carvings inside of Himeji-jo(Hyogo Pref.) or Nijo-jo(Kyoto), Matsumoto-jo is very simple because it wasn't built for living, . Matsumoto is a town built around the castle and you can find the differences from Nagano City when you walk around.


3．Naganokenritsu Rekishikan, NaganoPrefectural Museum of History

(Chikuma City) http://www.npmh.net/
This is a big museum that shows us the history of the people's life in Nagano. Temples, shrines or castles sometimes show us special part of history and culture, but in this museum you can see the life and history of common people of Japan. The exhibition is very visual, so you can understand it easily. (I'm not sure if it has explanations in English.) The museum is built by a huge, ancient tomb, and you can walk around it. The area near the museum is famous for apricots and tulips, so you can enjoy the flowers if you visit it in spring. The station near the museum is Yashiro on the Shinano Line.

4. Old Post Towns

Before the railroads, people traveled on foot or on horseback, and of course it took many days. During the Edo era, lords of every fief had to live in Edo, the capital city of Tokugawa government (now Tokyo), every two years, so they often had to travel all the way to Edo and back home with many of their people. The roads to Edo or Kyoto were well formed and posts were settled. People had rest, ate meals, changed their straw sandals, and sometimes waited for good weather there.

One of the main roads from Edo to Kyoto, called Nakasendo, was through Nagano Prefecture. Along this road, there were many post towns. Even now we can find that some of them remained as they were: Oiwake (Karuizawa Town), Unno (Tomi City), Narai (Shiojiri City), Tsumago and Magome(Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Pref.--They used to be in Kiso area) are kept as they were with traditional buildings.

5. Azumino Chihiro Bijutsukan,Azumino Chihiro Art Museum

(Azumino City) phone:0261-62-0777

http://www.chihiro.jp/azumino/

Iwasaki Chihiro is a painter who drew many pictures of children, and her children in picture books or calenders charm us even after her death. This is the second museum of hers and it has a picture book library for children. You can also enjoy the garden outside. (Her first museum is in Tokyo and it has a special exhibition for its 30th anniversary titled "Peace and Happiness For All the Children in the World")

She wished for peace for children and joined the activities of artists against wars. The museum publishes a calender with her pictures every year and it has messages against nuclear weapons on it.

Azumino is a beautiful area with mountains, rice fields, and clear water. Why don't you walk around in the village?

6. Mugonkan Art Museum (Ueda City) Phone:0268-37-1650

This is a very special museum. Why? All the painters or artists whose works are in this museum were students studying art but died in World War II as soldiers. " Mugon" means "no words" or "without words," but the works left by them seem to be their will. When we are in this simple and dark museum, I feel we can hear their voices.

The museum is in the area called Bessho, and you can find good old shines and temples there. It has also been famous for its good onsen, (hot spring), for a long time. Why don't you visit Mugonkan and some temples, and then enjoy the old public onsen on your holiday? If you have enough money, it is a good idea to stay at a Japanese style hotel with an onsen. There are some good ryokan (Japanese style hotel) in Bessho, and the sign of 'registered with the government' will guarantee the quality.

7. Harada Taiji Art Museum（Suwa City) Phone:0266-54-1881
http://www.city.suwa.nagano.jp/museum/harada/

Harada Taiji is an artist from Suwa. He draws people's lives and scenes that are somewhat older. His pictures remind us of our native places and of childhood. You can see our happy old days before the development, or the destruction, of Japan.

The museum is by Lake Suwa, and you will enjoy the view of the lake from the garden of the museum. The Suwa area also has good onsens. By the lake, there is a place where hot water is spouting out high from under the ground.

Why Don't You Try Some Japanese Culture?

I think the best part of traveling or staying overseas is communicating and being friends with ordinary people. I hope you all enjoy your stay here and make friends with people in the area.

I knew a woman who worked as an ALT in Saku for three years. She practiced judo at a judo class in the community and got a black belt, a license. She learned Japanese at a Japanese class. At the judo class, no one spoke English, so, it was a good place to practice Japanese. She also got a Japanese license, and in three years she spoke Japanese well. Then, with her Japanese skill and English, she got a job in a big Japanese company in Tokyo and got married to a Japanese man!

I'd like to introduce some Japanese culture or activities you can experience here. If you are interested or want more information, please contact me. Maybe I can help you. Don't hesitate to join these activities, even if you don't speak enough Japanese. Mostly, Japanese people welcome foreigners who try Japanese culture. When you do something with ordinary people, you will better understand Japanese culture and enjoy your days in Japan more fully. I believe this can be a way to understand each other and make a better world.

1. Chado/Sado - Tea Ceremony
The manners used to invite and serve tea to guests. Many people feel a spiritual meaning in the ceremony. Tea masters have classes.

2. Ikebana - Flower Arrangement
The way to arrange flowers of the seasons. It's an art to show the beauty of nature.
Ikebana masters have classes.


3. Shodo - Calligraphy
The art of writing letters or poems with a writing brush and black ink.
If you ask, school teachers of Japanese can show you this kind of art.

4. Taiko- Japanese Drumming
This is not only music but also a performance. There are many taiko teams in this area.


5. Koto - Japanese Zither
The most famous Japanese musical instrument, which has thirteen strings.

6. Judo
A way to fight without weapons. Of course, it's a sport now.
7. Kendo - Swordsmanship
The way samurai, swordsman, practiced fighting. It is now a sport, and many people say that manners are important, in addition to basic positions and fighting.

8. Karate
Some high schools have clubs, but we don't see many karate masters in this area.

Spending time with local people doesn't have to involve Japanese culture. There are many clubs or activities you can join. Here are some examples:

Sports: baseball, tennis, hiking, mountain climbing, running, many kinds of dancing.
Music: choir, orchestra, rock bands
Art: painting, photography
Volunteer or NPO activities: Community Aid Bridge is a non-profit organization that aims to promote internationalization and global understanding in Saku, Japan, and the wider global community. Here's a photo from their annual Nepal Charity Lunch in January:

PRINCESS IKOMA AND TSUKIGE, A YOUNG HORSE

--An old folk tale in Saku--

We have many folk tales, and this is one that has been told for a long time among the people in this area.

***************

A long long time ago, this area, Komoro, Asashina, Mochizuki, and Kitamimaki, was a big pasture. People bred horses for the emperor and when young horses got strong enough, they took them all the way to Kyoto,the capital, through the Nakasendo trail. The pasture bred many good horses, and so horses from Mochizuki were famous in Kyoto.

One day, a baby daughter was born to the lord of the fief, and on the same day, a beautiful horse was born at the stable. The lord was very glad and named his daughter "Ikoma." It meant "vivid horse." The horse had white hair with bright brown spots, and people called him "Tsukige."

As they grew, Ikoma became a beautiful girl and Tsukige became a strong, beautiful horse. Ikoma often rode on Tsukige and ran around the pasture. They seemed to be so close and happy. Ikoma was so beautiful that her name was known in Kyoto. She was called to come to Kyoto and be one of the emperor's wives. Her father was very glad, but Tsukige would not eat any food and got sick. The people worried about him and asked a healer. His answer was that Tsukige was in love with Ikoma and he became sick because he heard she was leaving. Hearing this, Ikoma refused to go to Kyoto.

Her father got so angry that he said to Tsukige, "I'll give you my daughter if you run all around the pasture three times before the evening bell." Everyone thought it was impossible, but the horse started running. He ran and ran as fast as the wind. He ran so fast that he was almost finished! The lord got irritated with this and shouted, "Ring the bell right now!"

When the horse heard the bell, he stopped running. Desperate, he jumped down into the River Kakuma far below and died. Ikoma was so full of sorrow that she left home and became a nun to pray for Tsukige.

****************************

More than twenty years ago some people worked to make a choral suite of this folk tale. A poet and a composer visited Mochizuki and were inspired with the tale and folk music . It was performed several times, but it has not been played for fifteen years.

Recently, the national government of Japan has demanded that small towns and villages be annexed by big cities. If they refused, the government threatened to cut off financial support to these small towns. As a result, many towns and villages disappeared in the last five or six years in Japan. Mochizuki Town is now a remote region of Saku City.

There are some people who worry about losing their community identity and the suite of the folk tale, which they helped create. They decided to sing the music themselves at last. They asked a professional singer and a pianist to help and started practicing last September. Many of them have no choir experience or can't read musical notes. But at last, they are going to have a concert on September 24th (a public holiday) in Mochizuki.

Summer is the Season for Peace

In Japan, summer is the season to remember the war and its victims, and to pray or act for peace. The reason is that more than 300,000 people died as a result of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the war ended at last in August of 1945.

However, 62 years have past since then, and the survivors are dwindling. Nationalism is gaining power, and conservative leaders, once again, want to make Japan a country with an armed force. TV shows or newspaper articles about war and peace are very few.

Even so, there are activities and gatherings for peace during the summer, and many people join them. One of them is the Anti-Nuclear Weapons World Gathering. Every year it is held in Tokyo and in Hiroshima. Groups, labor unions, and communities raise money to send their members to the gathering, but of course, not everyone can join. However, as a way to join the activity and express their thoughts, they walk. The walk starts in many places in Japan: for example, Rebun Island in Hokkaido on March 6th, Kochi on May 21st, and Okinawa on June 4th. They all walk to Hiroshima through every prefecture, Some people walk all the way to Hiroshima, but usually people join one day or half a day and pass their messages or flags to the next walkers.

The motto of the walk is:

No more Hiroshima,
No more Nagasaki!
Let's make a world without nuclear weapons;
Let's keep Japan's pacifist constitution!
Join us. Let's walk together!

The 2007 peace walk in Nagano started on June 29th. (The people who walked through Niigata prefecture arrived at in the north of Nagano prefecture on that day.) They walked through many cities and towns and relayed to the people of Gunma and Yamanashi prefectures.

On August 6th Hiroshima City will hold a ceremony to memorialize and pray. The city has a museum about atomic bombs and their damaging effects. Why don't you visit it? Although it may be difficult to participate in the ceremony, its important that we be aware of, and learn from, these events.