'Iolani history teacher John Bickel gave a speech on peace education in Hiroshima on July 22 for the closing program of the Goto of Hiroshima Foundation.  Bickel was selected as one of three former recipients to return for the closing ceremonies.  Patsy Iwasaki of University of Hawai'i-Hilo and Garyn Tsuru, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, were also selected.  

The Goto of Hiroshima Foundation was founded by Dr. Fumiko Kaya of Hiroshima and began a program of friendship between Hiroshima and Hawaii in 1992.  Since then fourteen people have come from Hawaii to Japan to learn and create ties.  Dr. Kaya created the foundation in honor of her uncle, who was lynched in Honoka'a in 1889.
  
In 1995 Mr. Bickel studied the effects of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.  Dr. Kaya herself was a hibaksha, or atomic bomb survivor.  Bickel researched the extent and limits of the black rain than fell after the bomb and the effects this had on temperature.  

Mr. Bickel's speech focused on Dr. Kaya as an example of how one can turn a tragic circumstance into a force for positive change.  When Dr. Kaya learned of the lynching of her uncle, she created the friendship foundation.  She passed away in 2003.  Bickel also spoke about how peace education works to build peace at three levels: inner peace, peace among individuals, and peace among large groups and nations.  He spoke about the positive achievements of the 'Iolani Peace Institute as an example of how peace education can be done.