Welcome to our virtual museum.

　Calls for peace. Through art, many people in Hiroshima appeal for a more peaceful world. Some draw pictures with peace-related themes, while others sing songs about peace. Not only professionals, but children and adults share their prayers through expressions of art from the city that experienced the world’s first atomic bomb.

　For this issue, we gathered various works of art and the junior writers interviewed some of the artists.

　In Peace Seeds’s virtual museum, you will find an array of images and video. We believe that art can overcome language barriers and move human beings. So we hope people around the world, regardless of national borders, will enjoy these works of art-these works of peace.

　We were surprised by the large number of people involved in art activities connected to the theme of peace. There are many more people than we expected, including youth. In fact, we assumed young people were simply audience members for art, but it was encouraging to find youthful artists, too.

　After our investigation, five junior writers shared their impressions.

　One junior writer who covered plays and storytelling shows said, “As their work tries to do justice to the A-bomb survivors’ experience, I sensed the strong responsibility they feel to make this work successful.” And another writer was impressed by the power of art, remarking, “Young people seem open to art.”

　As to why peace is such a universal theme in a wide range of art, we believe this theme is felt by the artists as meaningful and its expression through their work can be meaningful for audiences, too.

　Art can transcend languages and nations, appealing directly to people anywhere. The artist shares his expression in his own unique way, yet this can have a broad impact. I think this is the value of art. (Naru Nishida, 16)