The museum of peace in Japan
Arthur Shostak
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Ed-Op
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On April 14, after visiting the Golden Pavillion in Kyoto, my wife Lynn and I got lucky and noticed a road sign indicating the presence nearby of a Kyoto Museum for World Peace. We were surprised and immediately intrigued. Our tour guide, and our Lonely Planet Tour Book were both blank on the subject, so that night after dinner I Googled the place (www.ritsumei.ac.jp) and was very pleased with what I read.
At our request our tour guide phoned the next morning to confirm non-Japanese visitors would get value from a visit, and we quickly decided to skip the scheduled tour activities in favor of getting ourselves to the Peace Museum. We are always on the lookout for unexpected attractions that resonate with our key interests and values. Commonly the standard tour stops look back into revered history, and almost never look over the horizon, so futurists must be alert to make their own itinerary - even as a trade-off against seeing some remarkable piece of antiquity (there ain't no free lunch).
After a 45-minute local bus ride as the only Westerners on the vehicle, we found ourselves at Ritsumeikan University, founded in 1911. It is now the proud home of the first peace museum in the world to be established by a university. (Japan has over half of the world's nearly 100 Peace Museums, a measure of the trauma the nation still suffers in the aftermath of the devastation suffered during WWII, when 80 or more of its major cities were pulverized by air bombardment).
For several hours we moved among its 35 sections laid out through three floors, learning much of value from an audio device, very well designed display cases and a 23-page guidebook. Among its unique features are a long timeline of world history that emphasizes we are on the brink of obliterating that history, a mini-exhibit room for display of student and ordinary citizen projects, a mini-art gallery, various weapons such as cluster bombs, a classroom and video-viewing space.
The entire history of Japan in the 20th and 21st century was explored, with particular attention paid to WWII and Japan's sole responsibility for setting it in motion. The extraordinary hardships experienced on the home front were detailed, along with such matters as air raid impacts, the Battle of Okinawa, the Atomic Bombing, the determining of responsibilities for war crimes, weapons development, and subsequent efforts to prevent wars. An entire room was devoted to the efforts of Kyotoites to promote peace, as this and related efforts around the world are the main concern of the campus-based Museum.
At our request our tour guide phoned the next morning to confirm non-Japanese visitors would get value from a visit, and we quickly decided to skip the scheduled tour activities in favor of getting ourselves to the Peace Museum. We are always on the lookout for unexpected attractions that resonate with our key interests and values. Commonly the standard tour stops look back into revered history, and almost never look over the horizon, so futurists must be alert to make their own itinerary - even as a trade-off against seeing some remarkable piece of antiquity (there ain't no free lunch).
After a 45-minute local bus ride as the only Westerners on the vehicle, we found ourselves at Ritsumeikan University, founded in 1911. It is now the proud home of the first peace museum in the world to be established by a university. (Japan has over half of the world's nearly 100 Peace Museums, a measure of the trauma the nation still suffers in the aftermath of the devastation suffered during WWII, when 80 or more of its major cities were pulverized by air bombardment).
For several hours we moved among its 35 sections laid out through three floors, learning much of value from an audio device, very well designed display cases and a 23-page guidebook. Among its unique features are a long timeline of world history that emphasizes we are on the brink of obliterating that history, a mini-exhibit room for display of student and ordinary citizen projects, a mini-art gallery, various weapons such as cluster bombs, a classroom and video-viewing space.
The entire history of Japan in the 20th and 21st century was explored, with particular attention paid to WWII and Japan's sole responsibility for setting it in motion. The extraordinary hardships experienced on the home front were detailed, along with such matters as air raid impacts, the Battle of Okinawa, the Atomic Bombing, the determining of responsibilities for war crimes, weapons development, and subsequent efforts to prevent wars. An entire room was devoted to the efforts of Kyotoites to promote peace, as this and related efforts around the world are the main concern of the campus-based Museum.
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