The APEC Junior Conference

Current lives of the participants

Arthur Binard was born in the U.S. state of Michigan in 1967. A poet, he was awarded the celebrated Nakahara Chuya Prize for his collection of poems entitled "Tsuriagetewa" ("Catch and Release"), published by Shichosha. He also received the Japan Picturebook Prize for "Home is Here--Ben Shahn's Lucky Dragon", published by Shueisha. Mr. Binard was the keynote speaker at the 2010 APEC Junior Conference. Following the major earthquake that struck eastern Japan in March, he has come to Hiroshima to spend time contemplating the links between Hiroshima and Fukushima.

I thought back to the junior high and high school students I met in Hiroshima in February of last year while reading the answers they wrote for this survey. The participants at the APEC Junior Conference came from a variety of locations and had a wide range of backgrounds. Kang Dong Woo, a junior high school student in Korea now studying for high school entrance examinations, dreams of becoming a scientist involved in environmental issues. Kogulan Sabalatnam, who lives in Australia and was a high school student last year, is now studying politics and economics at a university in Melbourne. He is determined to pursue a career in public administration. Muhammad Hazim Mohamad, from Malaysia, was a high school student. As the winner of a scholarship, he will attend a British university and study business issues while also taking part in volunteer activities. Caleb Castro has joined the army in his native Singapore after graduating from high school. He indicated that he would like to study accounting at a university after his military serve. He also wrote that he developed a better ability to listen to others as a result of his participation in the APEC Junior Conference. And Minh Le, who comes from Vietnam, enrolled in a university in Yokohama, Japan after graduating from high school. He is now actively trying to serve as a bridge between Japan and his homeland while studying business.

Through their writings, I get the feeling that they're growing up with gusto and I notice, though it's been less than two years since the conference took place, that they aren't "juniors" any longer. They are now following their own special paths, and very soon their work will contribute toward the process of shaping the world.

With regard to the ways they were influenced by the conference, they shared a host of thoughts, but I think we can see a common idea: the importance of recognizing diversity. Through deep discussion, a group that begins with little unity finds a shared direction and moves toward a goal before they even realize it. Without such a venue for discussion, this outcome isn't possible.

In addition, many of the participants wrote about how their perspective of environmental issues has changed. Some people came to think that achieving peace is closely connected to a healthy environment. That point of view is crucial when considering the accident that took place at the nuclear power plant a year after the conference was held.

Of course, all the participants shared their thoughts about peace as well. They all learned from Hiroshima's experience, listened closely to the voice of an A-bomb survivor, and have come to view the city as an important example, model, and inspiration. This means that the conference has charged us, the people of Hiroshima, with a significant duty. If Hiroshima's efforts to advance peace become watered down or hollowed out, the participants of the conference will eventually recognize that fact and will be disillusioned. A promise was made at the APEC Junior Conference that must never be broken.