Phyllis Tajii

People

Being a ‘Sansei’ (third-generation Japanese American) and growing up in the United States, I did not have firsthand knowledge of the horrors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, however, one of my grandfathers came from Kure, a village on the outskirts of Hiroshima. 

I was drawn to the Peace Crane Project because of their goal of working toward a world free of nuclear weapons.  Growing up in California in the 1950’s I remember ducking under my desk at school for routine nuclear attack air raid drills and assuming I would be protected from an atomic blast if I did it correctly. 

Today, I am disheartened that the world still does not seem to have an understanding of the tragedy of using nuclear weapons and of believing that amassing a larger arsenal than our enemy will be a deterrent to war.  

Being a ‘Sansei’ (third-generation Japanese American) and growing up in the United States, I did not have firsthand knowledge of the horrors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, however, one of my grandfathers came from Kure, a village on the outskirts of Hiroshima. 

I had a chance to talk to a relative in Kure where he explained how he and his friends saw the huge mushroom cloud when the atomic bomb dropped.  While he was talking, I remember thinking how my grandfather’s extended family could have easily perished had they lived just a few miles closer to ground zero.   

Putting on activities that draw the public’s attention, like the annual Nuclear Remembrance Day and the Tree of Peace project, serve as reminders that we have to keep working for peaceful resolutions.