Topics 2007 - 2008
Hiroshima Field Trip of Central Connecticut State University
Fourteen students from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), USA, visited Hiroshima as part of a field trip on Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8, 2007. While the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study Course has been long established at CCSU, this marks the first time that a group has come to Hiroshima.
This field trip is a part of the Study Abroad program offered by CCSU, through which the participants can learn about Japanese culture and peace issues during their visits to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto and Nara.
The field trip program started with a video showing of, “Hiroshima: A Mother’s Prayer”, followed by the testimony of Mr. Keijiro Matsushima, head of a teachers’ group, which has been conveying their A-bomb experiences of Hiroshima. At the age of 16, he was exposed to the atomic bomb at his school building. The participants listened attentively to his experience. Mr. Matsushima asked the participants to convey his experience to others when they return home. The participants asked him a lot of questions such as what he thought of the US, what the situation around him was like during the atomic bombing. Aside from these activities, the CCSU students toured the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The following day, they also visited the Radiation Effects Research Foundation and strengthened their knowledge on basic facts about the A-bombings.
