Hibakusha Stories

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Hibakusha Stories is an initiative of Youth Arts New York in partnership with Peace Boat, the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation and New York Theatre Workshop that provides the opportunity for New York City high school students to hear eyewitness accounts of one of the most significant events in human history— the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. The survivors are called hibakusha.

Students who participate in Hibakusha Stories will become direct lineage carriers of one of the most important stories of the twentieth century. We, as their elders, have given them the gift of guardianship of this story. We have entrusted them with a remembrance responsibility to pass on the story of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to their children and their grandchildren.

Oral tradition has been the way that the wisdom of the elders has been passed to the next generation since the dawn of Man. Long after digital information storage has been lost, oral tradition will remain.

The work of our participating teachers and the Hibakusha Stories website is to provide students with the tools they will need to co-create a peaceful and sustainable future.

Testimonial

Webworks did a fantastic job of creating the Hibakusha Stories website and now the YouthArts New York site, and does a fantastic job of updating it. We give them the basics and they deliver with style and panache. Webworks is responsive and creative and turnaround time is quick. We love Webworks. — Robert Croonquist