Peace message from Hiroshima: Students remember the atomic bomb victims

Peace message from Hiroshima: Students remember the atomic bomb victims

The “International Student Seminar for Global Citizenship and Peace 2025” took place at Hiroshima University from August 1st to 10th, 2025. This year, students and lecturers from a variety of countries met, including Japan, Great Britain, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, Indonesia, South Africa, the USA and Germany. Particularly noteworthy is the participation of two students from Viadrina, who took part in the seminar together with other international participants. The academic director is Viadrina professor Dr. Carmen Thiele, who has been working in this role since 2024. The seminar is part of the International Network of Universities (INU) and is held annually in Hiroshima.

A central concern of the seminar was the memory of the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which celebrated its 80th anniversary this year. Many people remember this terrible day, August 6, 1945, because the explosion of the “Little Boy” bomb over the city immediately killed around 70,000 to 80,000 people and destroyed around 80 percent of the city center. Overall, the death toll caused by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is estimated at nearly 230,000 by the end of 1945 Wikipedia documented.

Workshops and discussions as part of the seminar

As part of the seminar, various workshops were offered that dealt intensively with the general topic of “Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation”. The speakers also included Viadrina Professor Dr. Jürgen Neyer, who leads a workshop on “Theory and practice of nuclear weapons in international relations”. The students also had the opportunity to take part in a simulation game that simulated a negotiation in the UN General Assembly in order to draft a resolution on the topic “Building a world without nuclear weapons”.

Divided into groups, the participants discussed the dangers of nuclear weapons, their role in political conflicts, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The importance of the United Nations in disarmament issues was also a key point of discussion.

Memory and commemoration

The supporting program also included participation in the official peace ceremony on August 6th, at which the victims of the atomic bombs were commemorated. A visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where the terrible consequences of the attack are documented, was also particularly important. A touching meeting took place with survivors of the atomic bombing known as “Hibakusha,” including a member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Nihon Hidankyo.

A moving part of the event was the lantern ceremony at the Motoyasu River. Many participants gathered here to light lanterns that symbolized a message of peace and commemorated the victims of the bombing. Mastering the memory of these tragic events remains important in the years to come, while August 6 is celebrated annually in Japan as a day of remembrance for the victims.

Overall, the “International Student Seminar for Global Citizenship and Peace 2025” offers a platform for reflection on the past and encourages the new generation to actively participate in creating a more peaceful world. Mirror highlights that discussions about the moral and political implications of the use of nuclear weapons remain controversial today, both in Japan and in the USA.