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Discussion: Ms. Yoshino Oishi and Prof. Eiji Hattori
Sponsored by NPO Meguro UNESCO Association, Meguro Board of Education
Lecturers: Ms. Yoshino Oishi, Photojournalist, recipient of many prizes including the Domon Ken Award;
Prof. Eiji Hattori, Scholar of the Comparative Study of Civilizations, Adviser to Meguro UNESCO Association
October 23(Fri), 2009 18:30- / Meguro City Office Main Conference Room / 120 participants

Part 1: Slideshow of 60 photographs (commentary by Ms. Oishi)
“I want you to take a look at those children, driven to the very bottom of society by government violence, and imagine how they feel everyday. I want you to know that there are children who are deeply hurt and still have to live in despair under the same sun that is peacefully enjoyed by the Japanese. Can you really accept this reality, that those weakest of the weak, babies and babies in mothers’ wombs, are the victims of misgovernment?” Ms. Oishi calmly stated the situation with her photos which explained the despair even more vividly.

Tears never cease to flow. The tragic inheritance from the war 30 years ago left incalculable misery among the people. A mother who lost her daughter through an accident with an unexploded shell, a boy who lost his father who had been shot seven times in his face yet still tried to save his family, and a young girl whose fingers were deformed by an accident. All the faces in the photos were telling us not only their actual losses but also the incurable wounds deep in their hearts. We are asked to take time to think about those people in Vietnam, Laos, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Chernobyl, etc. who were on the other side of her lens.

Part 2: A talk by Prof. Eiji Hattori
Prof. Hattori first commented that the photos of Ms. Oishi were peaceful and calm. Supported by his worldwide activities and experiences, he talked about how this world has been moving, and stated his historical views.

What took place in Asia in 1979? After the Vietnam War, the US troops were withdrawn from Asia, and Vietnam defeated the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, the truth about which none in the world had known. And the Soviet Union, which had been supporting Vietnam, invaded Afghanistan. The Islamic revolution in Iran also started then. The National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan started an educational support, which later led to the Terakoya movement, at Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand. At Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, schools of the Koran were started by the support of Saudi Arabia, and the Islamic theology students, the Taliban, that later on became very controversial, were born.

Histories are linked to one another in certain aspects. A rotten structure is inherent in power, and the power steers to a tragic massacre of war once the instinct of destruction awakes. In order to realize a peaceful world there are so many things left for us to deal with as a grass-root UNESCO movement.

At the end, Ms. Oishi concluded the discussion by saying that as a thrown pebble makes ripples spread, through her photos she wants to make ripples in people’s heart and wishes to have a peaceful world where all the children can talk about their own dreams.

We thanked the lecturers who had given us a couple of impressive and intensive hours on this vital subject and gave them a big round of applause at the end.
-written by Masumi Saito and translated by Nobuko Matsushita