Peace educator and atomic bomb survivor Setsuko Thurlow shakes hands
with Japanese Ambassador Kaoru Ishikawa at a reception held
in his honour at Queen's Park on April 7, 2011.
Advocate for Peace Receives Commendation from Minister for Foreign Affairs
Toronto resident and peace educator Setsuko Thurlow has received a special commendation from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Takeaki Matsumoto.
Ms. Thurlow is a well-known advocate for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and appears frequently on public occasions to convey this message. She became a Member of the Order of Canada in 2007, and in March of this year was commissioned by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Special Communicator for a World without Nuclear Weapons.
On August 6, 1945, at the time of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Ms. Thurlow had been assigned as a student from Hiroshoma Jogakuin Junior & Senior High School to work in an army command post. She studied in the United States in the postwar period and immigrated to Canada in the mid-1950s. She has repeatedly spoken of her own experiences of having survived the bomb to advocate against nuclear weapons not only in Canada but in such prestigious venues as the United Nations. She still frequently visits schools in and around Toronto to impart her message of peace to the students.
The Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto would like to take this opportunity to extend sincere congratulations to Ms. Thurlow on her commendation.