WALKING IN JAPAN 2005

For almost twenty years now I have dreamed of walking in Japan, and now that dream is about to come true.

I took my first step in walking for peace in 1986, during the Great Peace March, when I walked with 500 people across the USA. This was one of those rare opportunities in life, that lept out at me crying, “YES!” and changed my life forever. During that walk, a friend tried to teach me how to make a peace crane. You know those origami birds? To make them, you have to remember about twenty folds! I protested (meaning I was afraid and embarrassed). He insisted I could do it, but here’s a secret for you: I can be quite adept at pulling back when I get shy. So, I didn’t make a crane- not during that walk, anyway.

A year later, I found myself walking to Athens, Greece with seven Japanese monks. Upon our arrival, we were to honour the memory of the thousands of people killed when nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And guess what? We had to make peace birds. Groan. The head monk approached me with a sheaf of multi- coloured paper, saying, “Start making your birds.” I immediately went into shy mode, protesting vigorously, “I can’t do this, I’ve tried and my brain just can’t do it! Sorry….” Unfazed, the monk looked at me sternly, and said, “Here.” I countered with my most powerful whining. When I was finished, he shoved the papers in my hand, saying, “Do,” and turned away. With my head between my knees I sat in my corner and learned.

About six months later I was thumbing through a book and came across a true story about a young girl named Sadako Sasaki.

Sadako was only two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. As she grew up, she became strong, courageous and athletic. In 1954, at age eleven, while practicing for a big race, she became dizzy and fell to the ground. Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia, the “atom bomb disease”, and was immediately hospitalized.

Sadako’s best friend told her of an old Japanese legend which said that anyone who folds a thousand origami paper cranes would be granted a wish. Sadako hoped that the gods would grant her wish to get well so that she could run again. She spent fourteen months in the hospital, folding over 1,300 paper cranes, out of medicine bottle wrappers and any other paper she could find, before dying at the age of twelve.

Inspired by Sadako’s courage and strength, her friends and schoolmates rallied children all over Japan to raise funds to build a memorial to her and all the children killed by the atom bomb. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Today, people all over the world fold paper cranes and send them to this momument.

I found myself sobbing as I looked at the photo of the statue covered with thousands and thousands of peace birds. I cried that day not only for Sadako, but for the countless millions who have died and those who continue to die as a result of war.

Before closing the book, I took a vow to continue walking for peace, and to tell the story of Sadako. I have made over 2,600 birds, and probably told Sadako’s story almost as many times. I do this to keep the spirit of peace alive. I firmly believe that in all our struggles for a saner world for our children, if we do not keep that spirit alive, we are doomed.

That day I dreamed of walking in Hiroshima and placing my peace bird on Sadako’s monument. It was a dream, and not a goal, which meant I had a lifetime to get there and the whole world to walk through. Now, twenty-three countries and over twenty-four thousand kilometres later, my dream will soon come true.

There are 40,000 to 50,000 nuclear weapons stocked in the world today, a number equivalent to one million Hiroshima-type A-bombs. This is enough to wipe out our earth’s population dozens of times over. No longer do just the US and Russia have nuclear devices. China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan and Britain also have nuclear weapons, with another raft of countries racing to develop them. This now means regional conflicts also have the capacity to lead to nuclear devastation. The threat of our leaders plunging us into a nuclear holocaust is greater than ever - and it is growing. As Arundhati Roy, the Indian author and campaigner, said, “This world of ours is 4,600,000,000 years old. It could end in an afternoon.”

August 6th, 2005 is the 60th anniversary of the horrific nuclear bombing. I was just over five years old when this happened, having been born, as you may know, during an air raid. In the Japanese culture the number 60 is very important. In our society, the age of 65 is considered a milestone. I can’t imagine a more fitting time in my life to walk in to Hiroshima. Carolyn Affleck and I will walk in to Hiroshima, place peace cranes made by our friends and community members on the memorial, and say a simple prayer for Peace. On August 5 we will meet with Emiko Okada, a Hibakusha (survivor of the nuclear attack) who has devoted her life to peace. After that, we have the opportunity to visit Nagasaki to attend its memorial events.

As a part of our visit to Japan, Carolyn and I will also be walking on Shikoku. This island has a traditional pilgrimage in honour of Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, who was born there in 774AD. These days, pilgrims may walk, drive, take a bus, or even helicopter to some or all of the 88 temples on Shikoku. We hope to walk to a small number of them, along the rugged coast, high mountains, and through tiny villages. For us, the spirit of pilgrimage is important. We hope to learn about the traditions, take part in religious ceremonies, meet with local people, and enjoy the natural beauty of the island. We look forward to sharing these experiences with you upon our return.

To learn more about Shikoku, check out:

http://users.lac.uic.edu/~dturk/shikoku.html

To learn more about Sadako, and how to make peace cranes, go to:

www.sadako.org