Participants of the  Hiroshima G7 Summit Junior Conference　, together with YUZAKI Hidehiko, Chairman of the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit (Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture), paid a visit to see Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio , and personally hand-delivered the Outcome Document to him

The G7 Hiroshima Summit was held in May 2023. The unified public-private organization known as the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit (https://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/site/hiroshima-summit-en/) was also established. This organization was founded with the intent of ensuring the success of the Summit, as well as to use the event to promote and raise awareness of Hiroshima’s attractions via initiatives centered on five main pillars. One of those pillars is called “Promoting youth participation in events leading to post-summit activities .” Here, we interviewed two students who participated in the events organized by the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit, and asked them about the events and their outcomes.

HAMAOKA Chisaki

Eikei University Social System Design Department Sophomore

Attended Event: Discussion with between the Y7 Summit Delegation and Students in Hiroshima.

I attended the Discussion Session (held on April 7) between students from Hiroshima Prefecture and the Y7 Summit delegation, an assembly of young representatives from each G7 country. Last year, I established a club at my university for polishing presentation techniques called PeKuChars, which ended up emceeing the session.

During the event, the Y7 delegation and the Hiroshima students, over 50 people in all, were divided into five groups and worked together in those groups. What surprised me was the breadth of the delegates’ knowledge. No matter how much feedback was given in response to the Hiroshima students’ comments, it wasn’t nearly enough. In the beginning we were uncertain about rallying this many people together, moreover in English, but when we tried it, we got more into it than we imagined. The students that attended also said they had a lot of fun, and as emcee, I think I was able to master the skill of playing things by ear and adapting to the situation.

*Y7 Summit (official name: G7/G20 Youth Summits)

･As part of the official adjunct meetings which take place in addition to the G7 summit meetings, this international conference was held involving youth delegates representing various nations (a similar conference was held during the G20 Summit).

･Young delegates the age of 30s or under who came from diverse backgrounds—from researchers to government officials, as well as students—participated in several debates (on topics that would be addressed later at the actual G7 summit meetings), the outcomes of which were consolidated into a joint declaration, and were ultimately utilized to provide policy recommendations to the leaders of each G7 nation.

Members of PeKuChars

For PeKuChars to enliven the G7 Hiroshima Summit even more, we posted videos every day to Instagram. Besides videos explaining the basics of the G7 Hiroshima Summit, we also had videos interviewing various people on what peace meant to them. We interviewed university professors and students from within the prefecture as well as tourists visiting the Atomic Bomb Dome, making a total of 110 videos. What was interesting about listening to everyone was finding out that their opinions differed. For example, even among people who answered “peace is smiling,” some meant the smiles of their family, and some meant the smiles of all of mankind. In our club, we also talked about how it was interesting to see peace from many perspectives.

The discussion held between the Y7 Summit Delegation and prefectural students

Another thing I became extremely conscious of during this session were people who said that they had never thought at length about peace. Although there are many who perceive the G7 Summit as irrelevant to themselves, it’s an event that is important to securing a full and complete life in the future. I realized the importance of firstly transposing societal problems into our own lives, and taking action in our day-to-day lives.

TERASAKO Momoka

Eisugakkan Senior High School Sophomore

Event Attended: Hiroshima G7 Summit Junior Conference

I participated in the Hiroshima G7  Summit Junior Conference, held from March 27th to the 30th. This conference brought together 12 high school students from Hiroshima Prefecture and 12 high school students from G7 member nations, and we discussed several international issues and deepened our understandings of those issues. Given the choice to select from three themes—“Peace,” “Sustainability,” and “Diversity and Inclusion”—I chose to discuss “Peace.”

I was deeply struck by my experience during the group study tour, when we visited Okunoshima Island (part of the city of Takehara), where we visited the Okunoshima Island Poison Gas Museum. Before participating in this conference, I had known nothing about the island, but when I learned that Japan had used this location to secretly manufacture chemical weapons, and had concealed this fact after the war, I was left with a profound feeling of sadness.

Also, the work clothes I saw at the museum could hardly be called protective clothing, and I felt that the people who were forced to work in those clothes were also victims.

The group discussion

In the conference we underwent study and discussions like these, and finally presented our Outcome Document. A big part of my attendance at this conference was actually due to a former classmate of mine who is a refugee from Ukraine. Thanks to him, I realized that war was something that was actually happening, and I started to think about peace. When I asked him if there was anything he wanted to say, he replied, “It might be difficult to rid the world of war, but I want us not to take that as a matter of course but continue working to eliminate war.” I’m glad I included his message in the Outcome Document.

My thoughts about the future changed through this conference. Up until now, I didn’t have any dreams for the future, but now it’s like I have so many, what should I do! English is my forte, so I want to use English to solve societal problems, and I also want to become an interpreter capable of simultaneous interpretation. I truly had a fun experience and was given many things to think about.

The presentation of Outcome Documents summarizing the suggestions toward the issues  presented by each theme—“Peace,” Sustainability,” and “Diversity and Inclusion”—as well as the roles and contributions that youth can make

Provision of peace programs, etc., to the Y7 Summit Delegation

https://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/site/hiroshima-summit/y7-summit2023.html (Japanese only)

Hiroshima G7 Summit Junior Conference

https://www.pref.hiroshima.lg.jp/site/hiroshima-summit/junior-summit-index.html (Japanese only)