Communicating Peace
(Original in Japanese)

Yukari Nemoto
(Age 16, Japan <Living in USA>)
Battle Creek Japanese School, Michigan

Has the world ever really been "at peace"? At first I thought peace meant a world without war. However, even without war, disparities and discrimination exist, and even my home country Japan is rife with bullying, suicide and domestic violence—circumstances that are hard to describe as peace. If peace is achieved only when all of these problems cease to exist, then mankind has never experienced "peace." Is "peace" such a difficult thing to achieve?

I think the most important aspect of building a peaceful world is for each and every one of us to embrace compassion. For example, I think something as simple as giving up your seat on a bus or train to an elderly person becomes a step towards peace. A peaceful feeling would germinate not only in the person who gave up his seat and the person who was given the seat, but also in the people who witnessed that act. So how can we share this spirit of compassion with people around the world?

Today, many young people have their own albums on the Internet. They use their mobile phones and cameras to take pictures of themselves, pictures of the sky or whatever, and upload them into their albums. So, I would like to use cameras and the Internet to communicate the spirit of peace. There are many languages in this world, and it would be difficult to share one another's ideas simply by reading text. But, what about photographs? Even if there was difference in race, looking at a photograph of a mother picking up her newborn child would naturally make one smile. Even if there was no explanation given, the feelings of the mother in the photograph would come through clearly.

So I propose creating a web site to show photos where anyone in the world could upload their photos. The theme should be "Things and occasions that make me feel peaceful and secure—moments that make me smile." In my case, for example, I recall an occasion during my junior high school days, when I saw the sun set right before me as I said goodbye to my teacher and classmates in front of the school gate. I still cannot get over what a peaceful moment that was. Likewise, it could be the sky at the beginning of a new day, people frolicking in a lake or in the sea, or the eyes of a loving grandfather watching his family—anything would be appropriate.

Also, if you are inspired by any of the photos, you could share your impression. In principle, the person who contributed the photograph would not be allowed to express his or her own ideas as a comment. This would encourage viewers to actively and freely add their own impressions and opinions. These comments would then enable people in different countries viewing the same photograph to see how differently other people may feel and think. I believe that it is only when people come to respect one another's ideas, that compassion would grow and we would learn to understand people in distant lands.

Foreseeable problems would be the appropriateness of the photographs and the language barrier. These could be resolved by adopting a membership system. When joining, members would have to agree to build a peaceful society, and accept responsibility for their decisions and behavior. Then, members could be allowed to delete photographs and comments they regard as inappropriate, or translate comments written in their native language by other members. Creating such a system would ensure appropriate behavior, and allow users to feel comfortable about uploading photographs and comments onto the site. To make this activity better known, a contest could be held annually with winning photographs exhibited in countries worldwide.

In the future, the media should enhance its role as a bridge to connect countries in peace. If people throughout the world can share their photographs with one another, completely different peoples in very distant lands could become closer. Even if we don't engage directly in peace activities, if we could inspire and encourage people who feel lonely, people who are languishing, or people who are distressed simply by "taking photographs," and if compassion grew among the people who saw these photographs, then surely the world would come closer to peace. Even in the midst of the dull humdrum of life, surely there must be a time, a place or a thing that makes one feel safe and secure. One of the first steps we can take towards building peace is to notice the happiness in our immediate environment. Why don't we start by communicating that to the world?