Arthur Binard's Lecture

On Monday our school had the terrific opportunity to welcome Arthur Binard to give a lecture on his experience staying in Japan and topics relating to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.



Arthur Binard is a poet/translator from the United States who has lived in Japan for more than 20 years. He has dedicated his life to spread the message of the horrors of nuclear reliance. He talked a lot about how he decided to go to Japan and his initial experiences living in an unfamiliar environment. His insight regarding the jawbreakers named "Atomic Fire Balls" (which I had never heard about before) was very interesting as well.



Just by looking at candies named in this fashion, Mr. Binard pointed out how the average American is in some ways insensitive to the very real dangers that atomic and nuclear weapons can pose. He was also one of those typical Americans before he attended a lecture at Japan that was held by one of the survivors of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings.



The survivor described the bombing as a "pika" which is a sound describing a flash. It was probably from that moment that Mr. Binard's perspective on things changed, as he mentioned that it was an inspirational moment in his life.
As for myself, I would like to think that I am a bit more aware of the dangers that nuclear weapons can pose for humans and societies as a soldier who was recently discharged from the army. North Korea is constantly threatening South Korea with nuclear warheads. As a person who served in the military, I was thoroughly educated on the threats of nuclear warheads. In the end, Mr. Binard's lecture led me to once again reconsider the current situation that South Korea is in, and hope that a peaceful resolution can achieved in the near future.