NAGASAKI - A living witness to Japan's 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and a survivor of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki reunited in the southwestern Japanese city on Sunday, sharing a message that world peace starts with the kindness of one individual to another.
Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson, 90, was seen hugging Chiyoko Motomura, 87, at a public event. The two last met last year on Dec. 7, the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, when Motomura visited the United States.
"I was so happy," Motomura said, nearly shouting with joy at meeting Nicholson again, just hours after delivering a speech in a ceremony commemorating the 81st anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing.
She added, "I am very grateful to have received this opportunity."
Nicholson, who attended the ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Park and listened to Motomura's speech, called her "an awesome speaker." In the Pledge for Peace, Motomura said that dialogue is the key for human beings to truly understand each other.
Both agreed that achieving global peace starts with the individual. "What can we do for world peace starts with each of us and the kindness, and teaching our children to be polite and have respect for each other," Nicholson said, while Motomura stressed the importance of "getting along with neighbors and loving people close to you."
Nicholson was 6 years old when she witnessed the surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii.
"My father and I watched the Japanese planes over my house. We could see the pilot's eyes and goggles," she said, adding that they hid in a sugar cane field near their house.
Motomura was also 6 years old when she experienced the atomic bombing, the second on Japan after Hiroshima, about 4.5 kilometers from the hypocenter.
"I was slammed into the ground in the yard by the blast," she said, recalling the bombing. Her grandmother, who had been preparing lunch, hurriedly covered the young Motomura with her body.
"Thanks to her, I was unharmed, but my grandmother was injured when shards of glass, pieces of shoji lattice and all sorts of other debris came flying at her and struck her in the back," she said.
For Nicholson, she considered her current trip to Nagasaki as her "real visit," having only stayed for four hours previously on a cruise ship.
Describing Motomura as "so full of heart and truth," Nicholson said, "You and me are like bookends to the war, where the war started and where the war ended." Former wartime enemies Japan and the United States are now close allies.
Before their first meeting in December, Motomura admitted she was tense and even held antagonistic feelings toward Nicholson. But she quickly realized "the importance of having a dialogue while seeing each other eye to eye."
She said her meeting with Nicholson reminded her of what her deceased grandmother used to say: "Every single person is a good person. We must not forget that. Although, perhaps, we may go the other way when we become a pack, but there is no such a thing as an evil person."
The Missouri resident, who performed a dance for Motomura after which the two hugged, said she saw Motomura's "beautiful spirit" right from the beginning.
Even though they do not speak the same language, they "speak a language of love," Nicholson said.
