22nd Annual International Understanding and Cooperation Essay Contest
Middle School Competition Winning Work

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The First Step Towards International Understanding

by Kana Nozawa 
Third Year Student
Municipal Nirasaki Nishi Junior High

Lately, I saw a post on an internet bulletin board that I could not believe. The content of the post was discriminatory against Asians who are not Japanese. It was racial discrimination. There were many thoughtless words and discriminatory terms written which I could not forgive, and reading them only left me with a sense of anger and discomfort.

Next to my house is a small factory that manufactures camera parts. Not only Japanese people but also people from China, Southeast Asia, and various other countries work there late into the night. The factory is comprised of multinational workers who cooperate with each other. My grandmother had worked at that factory until she retired, and she often told me things like, “Mr. ○○, who came from abroad, really works well and is a splendid person.” Following my grandmother’s words, I had also come to see them as great people. Sometimes on the path to and from school, I would greet them and they would smile, brightly responding to me in clumsy Japanese. This would make me happy and I’d think to myself, “I will work hard today as well!”

Many of those workers had come to this faraway land all by themselves. They work from day to night, every day in a country where they have no family or friends. This is something I definitely cannot do. That is why whenever they respond to my greetings, I want to say “work hard!” and at the same time I tell myself that I must work hard as well. I believe they are truly great for inspiring others. I wonder if the people who wrote those discriminatory remarks on the bulletin board know this. I do not think one should judge others by ignoring what is inside and basing everything on outward appearance and nationality. Why do people discriminate?

I asked the people around me for opinions. I am now exchanging emails with people from around the world. This way I can understand things like their country’s culture and trends, and best of all, we can exchange ideas and opinions as friends. I am always looking forward to these emails. I had asked Ryu, who is from Korea and Andrea, who is from Italy, about what they think about my opinions on discrimination. I also asked them what they thought about discrimination.

Ryu said that he had also discriminated in the past: “Kana, lately I have also been thinking about this and so I sympathize with your feelings. There doesn’t appear to be discrimination on the surface, but in reality that kind of feeling has taken root in the very depths of people’s hearts. To tell you the truth, before I began studying Japanese I had a narrow view of Japan. Before, in school they taught us that Japan was not good. That is why I thought that all Japanese people were cruel. Historically speaking, Japan has been largely connected with discrimination and people have not yet forgotten the war.” 

Andrea told me about the discrimination in Italy and how there are people like her relatives who discriminate other people: “I agree with you, Kana. There is even discrimination in Italy. For example, Italy used to be divided into north and south, and people suffered discrimination depending on whether they were born in northern Italy or southern Italy. There are also frequent cases of people insulting Asian tourists and spitting at them. I don’t discriminate against people but I have relatives who think that way. Rather than being an individual choice, I think that discrimination is something perpetuated by the general public.”

 I began to understand that discrimination is certainly strongly related to a country’s history and the general public’s way of thinking. Isn’t that a lot like war? Just like Andrea, I also have a relative who discriminated against others. It was my great-grandmother. She died before I was born, but I heard about her from my mother. She greatly hated the Soviet Union. Whenever something unfortunate occurred she would clamor, “It’s a conspiracy by the Soviet Army.” She could never forgive the Soviet Union for moving against Japan during the last days of the Pacific War.

It is just as I thought. War can be something that can remain indefinitely in people’s minds as a disagreeable memory, and can never be forgotten for as long as they live. My great-grandmother hated the Soviet Union until the very end, and what happened during the war had changed both her life and way of thinking. But discrimination is not something that exists only with the deceased. It is also born in the hearts of those who live on.

Afterwards, I received another email from Ryu: “Having a subject that both Koreans and Japanese can get excited talking about together…seventy years ago this would have been unthinkable,” he said. “Being able to do something like this is certainly peace and genuine international understanding, don’t you think?” I also felt the same way.

               The war still remains in people’s hearts and their thoughts cannot change very easily. However, I believe that those of us who have never experienced the war should understand it, and work towards eliminating the discrimination it has caused. One by one, we must understand and accept each other, cooperating in order to build a new society. If we break down the wall of discrimination in our hearts, mutual understanding with people around the world is possible. Isn’t changing one’s own heart the first step towards international understanding? I do not wish to be dominated by the thoughts of others. Instead, I want to believe in my own thoughts and act upon them. Mutually accepting each other and helping each other is the foundation of international understanding.