February 24, 2000
Dear Asian Worldwork participants;

Three and a half years have passed since we spent extraordinary two days with Amy and Arny Mindell in San Francisco. I hope that you have been doing well and that you have found some positive meaning from that experience we shared.

I deeply thank all of you since the Asian Worldwork deeply impacted on my own life. Although I have continued to work with this issue of World War II in Asia, honestly, I had been sometimes puzzled with why I should work for this “past” issue; that was the reason why I did not report anything to you. However, through my activities for these couple of years, now I am convinced that working with this issue can be a great opportunity not only for the reconciliation among Asians but also for deepening our humanity.

Let me share some of my experiences throughout these years.

After Asian Worldwork, I explored how I could carry the deep experience from those two days and tried several different approache, with help of Armand Volkas and Sara Liuh. In February 1998, I together with Yoshi Tsukishita, a Hiroshima survivor, proposed a project, in which we tried to gather those who have been involved in Auschwitz, Hiroshima-Nagasaki, and Nanking to explore the deep shadow of our humanity and understand more about who we human beings are. Although this project eventually failed because of my immature preparation, it resulted in deepening my relationship with Chinese people.

Then, in July 1998, Yoshi and I worked as a volunteer to prepare for the photo exhibition of Nanking Massacre in San Francisco. In front of those terrible photos, we just worked with Chinese people. Then, on the morning of opening ceremony, my Chinese friend suddenly asked Yoshi to take a role to open the gate at the opening ceremony. I would never forget the moment. The picture that a Hiroshima survivor opened a gate for the exhibition of Chinese war victims was reported by Chinese newspaper as “Union in the face of atrocity” and became a very important symbolic event for Chinese group. I was overwhelmingly moved by their great spirit to overcome the hatred and to cooperate for humanity.

In September 1999, I was contacted by Japanese undergraduate students at Stanford University to help them organize a photo exhibition and a series of lectures regarding World War II in Asia. In that event, about thirty young students, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Philippine, and Americans, got together to educate Stanford community that the living history of World War II in Asia is more than what the history text book teaches. Their willingness to take the history as their own and to work together for that difficult issue gave me a great hope for the future generation.

I still do not know why I was chosen to work with this unbearable issue, but I feel truly grateful for the opportunity I had because through these few years I could witness great human spirit and hope for the future generation.

Recently Kazuaki Tanahashi, who was also a participant in Asian Worldwork and had attended the ceremony at Auschwitz conducted by American Zen masters, invited me to initiate a project “Visit of Remorse to Nanjing.” I feel that this project, which is described in the attached paper, is a great integration of my activities and this would be a good chance for me to report to you about my activities since the Asian Worldwork.

We are still in process to finalize this project and if you give us any feedback on this or my activities, I would very much appreciate it.

Again, thank you all for your great support and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Gassho

Haru Murakawa
East-Asian Awareness Project Coordinator, INOCHI

CONTACT:
726 Masonic Ave.
Albany, CA 94706, USA
haru@earthlink.net

P.S. : The organization which will officially collect the donation for the Nanjing will be later announced. I use old address list of Asian Worldwork participants, and I am afraid that some people have moved and may not be able to reach. So, in case you still have some contact with friends from that workshop, please share this letter with them.

Some Activities of East Asian Awareness project
by Haru Murakawa

1996
July 4 and 5, 1996
Asian Worldwork with Arny and Amy Mindell
September 8
Attending the Fall of Manchuria-A memorial Performance and Photo Exhibition at Chinese Cultural Center in San Francisco

October 26
Attending a workshop of “Acts of Reconciliation project” by Armand Volkas in Oakland

December 8
Attending an International Symposium on Japanese Responsibility of W.W.II Atrocities at Stanford University.

1997
February 22
Organizing a workshop of “Acts of Reconciliation project for Asians” by Armand Volkas in Oakland

March 30
Organizing an interview Workshop for Iris Chang, the author of New York Times bestseller book “Rape of Nanking.”

May 25
Presenting about the Asian Worldwork at the second Japanese Transpersonal Association conference.

December 13
Invited to the Memorial Ceremony of Chinese victims at Union Square in San Francisco.

1998
February
Proposed a project “Who are We?: getting together from Auschwitz, Nanking, Hiroshima-Nagasaki” This project did not progress as an original idea.

April 17 and 18
Attending “the Nanking Incident: the historical fact and in historical memory” held at UC Berkeley. Discussing with Professor Tam, the president of Global Alliance for Preserving the History of Shino-Japanese War, regarding my proposal of “WHO WE ARE.”

July 5 through September 27
Working as a volunteer for “Forgotten Holocaust in Asia and Pacific” a photo Exhibition of Japanese Atrocities during W.W.II in San Francisco. Conducting a translator for the Japanese group of lawyers and activists, invited to the opening ceremony.

July 18
Organizing a workshop “Past, present and future for Asians; discussion on the impact of history for Asians” in Berkeley.

August 22
Attending a workshop, “The children of W.W.II” by Armand Volkas and Sara Liuh in Mill Valley.

1999
March 3
Interviewed for Japanese Newspaper articles by Mari Iwata, which appeared in Jiji Press and Shukan Kinyobi

December 13
Invited to the Memorial Ceremony of Chinese victims at Union Square in San Francisco.

2000
January 24 through February 3
Consulting the Living History Project at Stanford University; photo exhibition of Nanking Massacre, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Comfort Women, and lectures by several survivors from W.W.II in Asia.

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