wfn.org | Japanese and American youth walk a

[John Rollins <rollins@intac.com>]

common path together

98-2234
Japanese and American youth walk a
common path together

by Ed Stannard
(Episcopal Life) Eight Japanese and eight American young
adults found that  differences in culture, history and
language are difficult but not impossible to overcome
during a 16-day Pilgrimage for Justice, Peace and
Reconciliation this summer. Organized  as a retirement
gift honoring former Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning
and his wife,  Patti, the pilgrimage brought its
participants face to face with their sometimes painful
common history.
          The young pilgrims traveled to Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, where Japanese bombs  brought the United States
into World War II; Okinawa, scene of a horrific battle,
and  Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, where the only atomic
bombs ever used were dropped,  killing thousands and
ending the war. In each place, they explored the history
and the  complexities of the relationships among people
there and learned that the work of  reconciliation is not
only hard, it is ongoing.
          "We met people who survived the Battle of
Okinawa, [Japanese-American]  internment camps in the
United States and the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, and what surprised me again and again was that
they were smiling as they told  their stories," said Drew
Bunting, 23, of Charleston, S.C.
          "Clearly it was not from a sense of joy at what
had happened. Rather, it  demonstrated the mystery of
God's healing power. Each of these people had made a
decision to go on with life and not to be bitter. They
had seen the worst of humanity, but  they had responded
in the image of God."
          During three days in Honolulu, the group
attended a Hawaiian service at St.  Andrew's Cathedral
and toured the Iolani Palace where they learned of the
disintegration  of the Hawaiian monarchy and its betrayal
by the U.S. government.
          "One of the most moving moments in our time in
Hawaii was to hear from the  Rev. Ernie Uno, a deacon at
St. Mary's Church in Honolulu," said Thomas Chu,
coordinator of young-adult ministries at the Episcopal
Church Center, who helped plan  the trip. Uno survived
the Japanese-American internment during World War II and
served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (a Japanese-
American unit) in Europe,  which helped to liberate the
Dachau concentration camp in 1945. "To hear the
forgiveness and deep faith in spite of separation from
his own family, who remained in  camp even after his
victorious return, helped us to understand more about the
complexity  of the war years and to make history come
alive."
          "I felt overwhelmed by the power of the
injustice done to him," said Bunting. The young
delegation also visited the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl
Harbor. "We read and heard a great deal about how
frenzied and confused everything was during  the attack
on Pearl Harbor and in the days that followed," said
Emily Bray, 28, of  Wilmington, Del. "I was relieved that
the memorial was so simple in its approach."

An amazing peace
          The group next went to Okinawa, where Browning
had served as bishop before  being elected bishop of
Hawaii. They visited sites related to the bloody Battle
of  Okinawa in 1945, the memorial to Korean forced
migrants and the Himeyuri Museum,  honoring girls as
young as 14 who were conscripted to be army field
hospital nurses.
          They also heard testimony from the Rev. Takashi
Shinjo at St. Andrew's Church  about his experiences as
a youth escaping from the battle with his family, hiding
in caves.
          "Shinjo just had this amazing peace about him.
He just sucked you right in," said  Jennifer Corwin,
project coordinator for the American Committee for KEEP,
which  provided logistical support for the pilgrimage.
          The group was on Okinawa on Aug. 6, the Feast
of the Transfiguration and the  anniversary of the
dropping of the Hiroshima bomb. Nagisa Uehara, 21, an
Okinawan  college student, found the visit to her
homeland moving.
          "At that time, Japanese people had been taught
that the American military was  like a monster," she
wrote in an on-line journal. "Therefore, they believed
that if they  were caught by Americans they would be
killed such a terrible way. ... The man who is a  teacher
of my school experienced such a terrible thing. When he
was 16 years old or so,  he killed his mother and sister
by himself. Can you believe this? I can't imagine that,
even if people's minds were not normal."

A moving moment
          At Nagasaki, Mari Kawasaki, 20, a university
student from Tokyo, was surprised  by her reaction when
the sirens blew at 11:02 a.m. Aug. 9, the time and date
that the  bomb fell in 1945. The group was taking part in
a memorial service during Eucharist at  Trinity Church at
the time. "The dropping of the atomic bomb felt very
real," said  Kawasaki.
          The young adults then had lunch with Kyushu
diocesan youth and church  members "and were able to
share different perspectives," said Corwin. Such
discussions  were valuable, according to Bray.
          "I was very concerned that the Americans and
Japanese would be defensive at  various points in the
trip because of actions taken by our respective
countries," said Bray.  "It was a happy surprise to see
that all the pilgrims were able to go beyond a more
historical `my country, your country' perspective and
focus on finding and learning from  larger patterns of
betrayal of trust, injustice and the humiliation of
individuals."
          Drew Bunting remembered how the pilgrims were
able to see parallels between  the injustice of the war
and contemporary ills of society.
          "One of us had expressed thankfulness that we
live in a time of peace. Another,  Jolinda Matthews [of
Lawrence, Kan.], responded that we do not live in peace.
We live in  a time when schoolchildren take handguns to
school and use them, when starvation is a  fact of life
in much of the world, and when people still die because
of the color of their  skin."

Difficult issues
          The group's final stop was at Hiroshima, known
as the City of Peace. The  problems of war and militarism
came into stark relief at the Atomic Bomb Dome at  ground
zero.
          The issues were difficult to contemplate, said
Gwendolyn Davis, 24, of Los  Angeles. "Part of me says
that unless we put down our weapons there will be no
peace,  but the other part of me knows that unless we do
so simultaneously and there are no  crazies in the world,
which won't happen, then there will be no peace."
     The group found it wasn't always easy to jet-hop,
live in hotels and travel in close  quarters for two
weeks, but the experience itself was a learning one.
     According to Nagisa Uehara, "Japanese culture and
American culture are so  different. Sometimes it is hard
for us to try new things. However, it really touched me
that American members were trying to try our culture. I
also learned new culture from  American members."
          From Drew Bunting's point of view, "Although
the cultures are radically  different, there are basic
similarities common to all cultures: the need of God, the
need of  community, the love of peace and justice. When
cultural differences threatened to divide  us, it was
this common ground that enabled us to continue."

--Ed Stannard is news editor for Episcopal Life, the
national newspaper of the  Episcopal Church. This article
appeared in the October issue.