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Perspectives from Selected Artists

During the summer of 2016, Michael Amano traveled to Hiroshima, Japan, where he met and interviewed four of the artists who participated in this exchange. They are profiled here.

Kiyoshi Hayashi

A fifth-grade student at the Funairi Elementary School when he created his drawing, Hayashi went on to become a successful electrical engineer, despite growing up incredibly poor. Now 74, he speaks about the importance of nature and wonders if its presence has the power to make war disappear from the world. Michael Amano interviewed with Hayashi on the playground of Funairi Elementary School in front of one of a handful of trees in Hiroshima that survived the atomic bombing. The tree has stood since the time Hayashi-san attended elementary school here. []

Shoji Noma

A second-grader at Honkawa Elementary School when he made his drawing, Noma, 71, became a talented fisherman in his youth. Over forty years ago, he travelled around the United States in order to participate in fishing competitions. He stayed on college campuses, including Yale University, and even visited Maine. Noma kindly invited Michael into his home where he lives with his son, his son's wife, and their children, and spoke with him there. []

Masaharu Takami

In first grade at Honkawa Elemtary school when he contributed his drawings to Tamotzu's drawing exchange, Takami, now 70, owns his own branch of Mazda. He speaks about the drawing he created with a deep sense of nostalgia, explaining that he looks at it every morning before he leaves for work. Takami explained that he has nothing of color saved from that time and that this drawing therefore transports him back to his childhood. His daughter and two grandchildren now attend Honkawa Elementary School, the same school that Takami did when he drew this image. []

Taiko Terakawa (née Shimotaka)

A sixth-grader at Kanzaki Elementary School when she created this work, Terakawa, now 75, speaks about not wanting others to have sympathy when they think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Rather she urges that those who study these cities imprint the lessons from the histories of these places on their own hearts and use it to work towards world peace. []