from the museum director
guidance in building
the fifteen-year war
modern warfare
The Two World Wars and Subsequent Efforts to Prevent War
The Cold War and Postwar Independence of Former Colonies
Post Cold War Conflicts
Weapons Development
Contemporary Regional Conflicts
buiding peace
getting to the kyoto museum for world peace
Post Cold War Conflicts
 

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States became the world's sole superpower. This made it easier for America to go to war. Those countries the U.S. viewed as "dangerous" were branded "evil" and treated as enemies. For example, the U.S. conducted air raids in Yugoslavia in 1999. Then in 2001, it fought a war to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan-a move it claimed was an act of self defense in response to the September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center in New York by airplanes hijacked by Al Qaida members. In 2003, America launched the Iraq War, claiming that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction. Thus, especially in the Middle East, America has sought to install regimes that will cooperate with it, while attacking countries that oppose its brand of freedom and democracy. Yet even though the U.S. has employed its most advanced weapons in these conflicts, resistance to the occupying forces has continued.
 

Fatima's Musical Alarm Clock
The special attraction in this area is a Japanese musical alarm clock which belonged to an 11 year-old Palestinian girl who was shot and killed when she went out onto a veranda at the hospital in a camp for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon where she was undergoing treatment in 1984. The clock was given to a Japanese photographer, Ryuichi Hirokawa, who was visiting the hospital. The music box still works, and it seems as if we can hear Fatima’s voice when we listen to it. (Presented by Ryuichi Hirokawa)
 
pick upHumans Line Up to Spell Out "No War! No DU!"

As preparations to launch the Iraq War got underway, anti-war demonstrations were held around the world. In Japan, a creative movement was founded to oppose the war and inform the public about the adverse effects of weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) that were used in Iraq. The photo shows approximately 6,000 protestors lined up to spell out the slogan "No War! No DU!" in Central Park in Hiroshima in March 2003. (Photograph by Naomi Toyoda)