During this time of Obon, on the 15th, an event commemorating the end of the war is held every year.

A memorial ceremony for the victims of the atomic bombing will be held in Hiroshima on the 6th and in Nagasaki on the 9th, and NHK and other networks will broadcast a variety of programs showing images of Japan's past, with the hope that such a thing will never be repeated.

When I see this, I sometimes feel uneasy, wondering how many people in the younger generation it is actually resonating with, and to what extent.

I was born after the war and only know about it from what my parents have said, so I cannot say much, but even so, when I heard later on in life that my father had been bedridden for several years after returning from the battlefield at the end of the war, I was truly frightened by the fact that the war, which I had only known in theory, was truly terrifying.

The grim fact is that even now, at this very moment, there are many people all over the world who have lost much or been injured in war.

I cannot help but hope that the current war will end as soon as possible and that peace will come.

And there will be no new war.

Even though there is no war (which we are truly grateful for), Japan is a country prone to natural disasters, with the threat of typhoons No. 5 and No. 7, as well as the predicted Nankai Trough earthquake, so perhaps people could live a little more comfortably if they were always prepared for emergencies.

The Paris Olympics have come to an end, and I have received many moving experiences.

The high school baseball season at Koshien Stadium is now drawing to a close. Unfortunately, Hanamaki Higashi High School, the alma mater of Ohtani from Iwate, lost in the first round.

I am grateful that I am able to live this peaceful life now, and humbly hope that it will continue for as long as possible.

Shizu Hashimoto

[Memorial fireworks] [Peace]