This research aims to create an interactive digital platform that encourages people
around the world engaged in peace education to explore the meaning of peace from multiple perspectives and discover new values related to it. By integrating geographic
information systems (GIS), storytelling, and multimedia resources, the platform seeks to
make learning about war, nuclear weapons, and peace more accessible, engaging, and
personally relevant. Our ultimate goal is to encourage users not only to learn about the
past but also to reflect on their own attitudes and future actions toward peace.
A key feature of this research is the use of GIS technology, which allows different types of
information to be layered on a digital map, enabling users to visually understand spatial
relationships and compare information from different places at a glance. This method is
particularly effective for peace education because it connects historical events to specific
locations and helps users comprehend complex global issues through spatial
perspectives.
In 2025, we mapped all known atomic bomb–related sites located within a
five-kilometer radius of the hypocenter in Hiroshima using the Web-GIS platform Re:Earth.
These include approximately ninety-six monuments and remains that preserve the
memories and realities of the devastation caused by the atomic bomb. Currently, we are
expanding the spatial scope of the project and increasing the amount and diversity of
information on the platform. By layering a wider range of datasets, we aim to strengthen
the platform’s role as an information-rich resource for peace education.
Storytelling also plays a central role in the platform. Through personal narratives, users
can experience the lives of individuals connected to the atomic bombing and gain a
deeper emotional understanding of historical events. Many people feel that topics related
to war or nuclear weapons are distant or difficult to understand. By presenting information
through narratives and interactive media, we aim to make peace education more relatable
and meaningful.
As part of this research, we conducted interviews with fifty-five individuals from
seventeen countries, including the United States, France, Germany, and the Philippines,
and incorporated their messages for peace into the platform. We also created narrative
content about three individuals connected to the atomic bombing: a third-generation
atomic bomb survivor who shares messages of peace through dance while conveying her
grandmother’s testimony; Eizo Nomura, a survivor exposed very close to the hypocenter
who later suffered from the aftereffects of radiation; and Chiyo Miyazaki, the daughter of a
Korean second-generation survivor, whose story highlights the experiences of foreign
forced laborers who were also victims of the bombing.
These stories are presented through maps, photographs, videos, and text, alongside
visual features such as three-dimensional models showing the number of nuclear
weapons possessed by each country and augmented reality reconstructions of the
Nakajima district before the bombing. Furthermore, we are developing concrete peace
education curricula that utilize this GIS platform as a learning tool.