The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation team is now in Japan! While the main objective of our travel to Japan is the Choose Hope Symposium (which is at the end of the week in Hiroshima), there have been exciting events all throughout. For instance, the first day I got here, we met with the president of Sokka Gakkai International. The NAPF team got such a warm welcome, with Japanese youth eagerly greeting us from the entrance of the building. I was then able to listen and learn from the conversation Dr. Hughes and the SGI president had about nuclear disarmament.

The next day, the NAPF team visited the Lucky Dragon museum, exhibited the incident of a fishing boat that was contaminated by US testing nuclear fallout. Later in the week, we also had the wonderful opportunity to visit Asahi Shinbun, one of the most prominent newspapers in Japan. 

Finally, the Choose Hope Symposium came. The symposium took place at the Hiroshima peace park and museum (park is pictured)! The first day was a closed format where NAPF and members of SGI worked together on workshops. During these workshops, conversations revolved around how the common goal of nuclear disarmament could be moved forward. The second day was the public conference with a wide array of panels and speakers, which was extremely educational. Additionally, I have also been loving cultural immersion, from going to Kyoto with the team to making late night runs at the convenience store with the other interns.