The coronavirus crisis has forced a series of events to pray for peace and memorial services to be canceled or scaled back. Although organizers and other entities have increased efforts to hold such events online, the number of viewers has been sluggish for many of these events.
With this year having marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, people involved in these events are exploring ways to convey how precious peace is and draw viewers.
-- Annual events go online
"I threw sand into my sister's face and I cried for the first time."
The voices of actresses Satsuki Okazaki, 30, and Toko Kawasumi, 23, echoed through a practice room of a theater company in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, while three cameras recorded the play. The above line was from a personal note written by a woman who went to Manchuria, now northeastern China, with her family during the Pacific War. The reading performance is based on a tragic story of the woman, who lost her younger sister when fleeing from the invasion of the Soviet Union.
The reading performance was recorded for online distribution by the Memorial Museum for Solders, Detainees in Siberia and Postwar Repatriates in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. It has been viewable on YouTube since Oct. 17. The museum was forced to close from February to June due to the virus crisis. An annual storytelling event by those who experienced the war, which was usually held during the school summer vacation, also could not be held this year.
The museum has reopened, but it is difficult to actively encourage people to visit the museum amid lingering fears about COVID-19.
Given the situation, the museum began its first online programs as a means to convey the importance of peace, even though people don't visit the museum.
The museum scheduled to five videos to show during October. In its first showing on Oct. 3, a talk program was shown online, during which six manga artists including Tetsuya Chiba, who is known for his work "Ashita no Joe" (Tomorrow's Joe), talked about their war experiences and difficulty in depicting the war, among other topics.
-- Simpler steps key
The number of viewers for the museum's online talk program stood at about 600 as of Oct. 21, while the figure for the reading play was about 230.
"There is room for devising ways to publicize the events, such as choosing where to distribute flyers," said Hiroyuki Kumakura, the manager in charge of promoting the museum.
On the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on Sept. 26, the PCU Nagasaki Council for Nuclear Weapons Abolition livestreamed a program for Nagasaki residents held at a library in Nagasaki Prefecture. About 75 people participated in the event at the venue where Yuichi Seirai, an Akutagawa Prize-winning author who wrote about the atomic bombing, gave a lecture, while only about 30 people watched it online.
Among the reasons attributed to the sluggish turnouts are that online viewers were required to use a certain app and to register in advance.
"I think holding events online is an effective way to limit the spread of infections, but we want to find a way to allow such programs to be viewed more easily," a council official said.
On the other hand, an online symposium held the same day by the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition attracted about 1,000 viewers. University students and others who participated in the discussions and planning of the symposium posted notices on Instagram and other social media platforms. The organization said that such efforts helped boost the number of viewers.
"It is also important to inform elderly people who are not familiar with the internet about such events in a detailed manner," an official of the organization said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
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