Nuclear power plants were damaged by the last tsunami, and air and water is kept contaminated by radioactivity every day. I do not think, however, that the tsunami is the only reason for that.
Japan is the only nation to have been subjected to nuclear weapon, and have swore to itself and to the world that we will never repeat the same mistake again. If that is a unique experience to this country, shouldn’t we keep a hard stance not to use nuclear for anything; even other nations rely on their power to nuclear generation? This is indeed regrettable.
The anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings are coming ahead this year as well. How can we apologize to the people who died and suffered from the bombings? Nuclear weapons and power generations are two different things; however, it is expected to suffer from the same kind of symptoms if we exposed to it.
I believe now is the great opportunity to think again what “Japaneseness” meant to Japan and Japanese people. In order to compensate 3.11 victims for their losses and sacrifices, I am acutely conscious of the importance of our commitment. That is, we, the survivors, have to determine the direction and act for our future.
Japanese should start do things being the model for the rest of the world, and I want to send out the message from Japan.
Firstly, Japanese have to be conscious that Japan is “a country of water”.
Then move to action to like the water and use it mindfully.
After that, we can talk about how each of us communicated with water today. We can even share the idea with family and friends.
At the age of 70 years old, I am determined to dedicate the final years of my life to this project. My exhibition is scheduled at Louvre Museum in December 2011. I will express ‘the prayers of water’ through my artwork, and talk about ‘gratitude for the water’ at the lecture meeting.
