As the sixth anniversary of September 11 drew near, students of Japanese teacher Chie Helinski’s Advanced Placement (AP) Japanese class had the opportunity to reflect on the meanings of war and peace. A Hiroshima survivor and a photographer, both from Japan, visited Stuyvesant Monday, September 10, to share their stories in Japanese.
The Japan Society e-mailed Helinski about the visitors, who were in New York to attend the September 11 memorial services. According to Helinski, they wished to come to Stuyvesant of the school’s close proximity to Ground Zero.
During fifth period, Masahiro Sasaki, a survivor of the World War II bombing of Hiroshima, visited the AP Japanese class to speak about his younger sister, Sadako Sasaki. Sadako developed leukemia due to contamination from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. She is known for her efforts to spread peace and hope by folding over 1,000 paper cranes, continuing to do so until her death on October 25, 1955 at the age of 12. Multiple books as well as poems have been published telling of Sadako’s story, including Eleanor Coerr’s 1977 non-fiction book, “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.” A glass box containing some of Sadako’s final cranes was shown to the class.
Masahiro Sasaki said although Sadako was in pain, she always tried to reassure the people around her, and put others before herself.
“As for Sadako,” he said, “Knowing [that at] the end of your own life, you had the ability still to wrap the suffering of others around your own heart, and hide it […] You had a compassionate heart which was always growing. You’re convinced of the fact that peace is coming eventually.”
His speech was translated by a translator and made available to students. Because much of the presentation was in Japanese, the audience was generally limited to students who are learning or who speak Japanese, though the invitation was open to everyone.
“Since [Shoji] spoke everything in Japanese, translating what he said into English made it sound weird and cheesy, but in Japanese it sounded deep,” said senior and AP Japanese class member Stephanie Lin.
Sasaki also described his experience of fleeing toward the river with his family after the bomb set his house and the surrounding area on fire, and of the black rain that fell hours later due to contamination from the bomb. Students were given time to comment and ask questions at the end of the speech.
Students appreciated Masahiro Sasaki’s willingness to share his stories. “It must have been really tough [for Sasaki] to share [his memories] with everyone. It was a really touching speech, and I don’t say that about much,” said senior Benjamin Lerner, an AP Japanese student.
“It was very emotional. Students started crying, and the story was very inspiring,” Lin said.
After 10th period, all students in Helinski’s Japanese classes were invited to attend a workshop hosted by Hirohiko Shoji, a professional photographer from Japan. Shoji founded the World Children Photo Project (WCPP), a nonprofit that aims to teach photography to children around the world.
Through WCPP, Shoji gives disposable cameras to children and asks them to take photos related to the themes of love and peace. Shoji selected some of these photos to feature in his book “Photos for Peace Taken by Children Around the World,” published this year.
Shoji was inspired to start WCPP when he came to New York in 2001 for an assignment to take photos with firefighters in the September 11 rescue effort. In the introduction to his book, Shoji said, “While I was there, a young boy clutching a Stars and Stripes flag looked at my camera and smiled. It was there that the concept for a photography class where I would talk together with children about peace using cameras developed.”
Shoji presented the photographs in his book and taught his audience techniques for taking good photos using a disposable camera. Shoji emphasized the connection a photographer makes with the camera as he or she looks closely through the viewfinder at the subject. He said using a disposable camera, rather than a digital one, requires the photographer to think carefully about the subject before taking the picture.
Students found the workshop to be unique and educational. “It was pretty interesting. I never thought photography would be something I’d be interested in,” said Lerner.
“He introduced us to interesting techniques. He connects the spirit aspect with the technical aspect,” Lin said.
During the workshop, Shoji gave out disposable cameras to the students, who had two days to take pictures relating to peace. Shoji will develop the pictures in Japan and consider them for publication in his next book or display some of them in an exhibit he hopes to hold in New York City in 2011.
Helinski was pleased to have the visitors speak to her students. Looking to share the events with the rest of the school, she also invited any students that were available to visit her class or come after school.
“The AP kids always studied about war, which inevitably involves peace. I thought it would mesh with the curriculum very nicely,” said Helinski.