JCCU and its member co-ops have been organizing activities called "Peace Action" to consider peace from various aspects with the theme such as passing on the experiences of war and A-bomb disaster to subsequent generations, wars and international disputes happening in the world, military base problems, and the constitution.

As part of the activities, JCCU holds "Peace Action in Hiroshima and Nagasaki" jointly with Hiroshima Consumers' Co-operative Union and Nagasaki Consumers' Co-operative Union in August every year. Usually, over 3,000 participants visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and they hold an exhibition about the A-bomb, stage performances, a field trip to the ruins of the building and the memorial tower in the Peace Memorial Park.  

This year, these events were held without physical contact in order to prevent the infection of COVID-19. However, they were held online using Zoom or YouTube and a total of 6,000 people from 100 consumer co-ops across Japan participated. Although it was the first time to hold the event online, some positive comments were received from co-op members such as "Thanks to online, I was able to join both events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki," "I was happy with this online event because I live too far away from the venue to attend." 

（Rainbow Stage in Hiroshima）

A film of a performance of a grand scale calligraphy drawing was shown at the opening. Mr. MATSUI Kazumi, the mayor of Hiroshima city stated in his greeting "We aim for a society without nuclear weapons to create a sustainable society." Taken turns, there were also greetings from Mr. TAUE Tomihisa, the mayor of Nagasaki city and Mr. HONDA Eiichi, the president of JCCU.

Later, the testimony of survivors, pictures to depict 75 years after World War Ⅱ, and peace activities by high school students in Hiroshima prefecture were shown.

　　　　　　

 (Section meeting)

Six section meetings were carried out. The contents were the testimony of survivors, the videos of explanation about the ruins of the building, the memorial tower in Hiroshima, etc. In addition, some participants joined the A-bomb Memoir Reading session. Some commented that it was a nice experience to actively participate in the meeting and consider war and peace. 

                       

（Rainbow Stage in Nagasaki）

Mr.TAUE Tomihisa greeted and stated "75 years have passed since the A-bomb was dropped. Now it is time to succeed the experiences of A-bomb disaster." Greetings followed by Mr.Matsui, the mayor of Hiroshima city and Mr. FUJII Yoshitsugu, Managing director of JCCU. Subsequently, each local consumer co-ops introduced their peace-related activities and Ms. NAKAMURA Keiko, an Associate Professor of the Nagasaki University also gave a lecture about nuclear weapons.

                      

(Section meeting)

Six events in total took place, such as a lecture regarding the experiences of A-bomb disaster, the A-bomb Memoir Reading session, and story-telling with picture cards.

 

Moreover, 62 children participated in "The Online Children's Peace Conference" as an opportunity for them to think about peace. They commented that "being indifferent is the worst thing to do; we should start with something we can do."