Under the project of First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska aimed at implementing Ukrainian-language audio excursions at main tourist destinations, a Ukrainian audio guide has been launched at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (Japan).
It took place on the eve of the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Reconstruction scheduled to take place in Tokyo on February 19, 2024, under the agreements reached between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida during their meeting on May 21 last year.
Within Olena Zelenska's project, 79 Ukrainian audio guides are available now in 44 countries.
"This is not just a cultural project. It is a project of cultural resistance and self-preservation of our language in the face of Russian aggression," said the First Lady.
The Peace Memorial Museum is located in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, managed by the city's municipality.
The museum was founded in August 1955 as part of the efforts of the Hiroshima community to commemorate the tragedy of the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945, and to urge humanity to renounce nuclear weapons. The museum's exhibition consists of items that belonged to the victims, photographs, drawings, and memories of eyewitnesses, as well as other documents depicting the horror of the atomic bombing. Every year, over a million people from various countries visit the museum. Ukrainian will become the 15th language of audio guides available at the museum.
"Among other things, Hiroshima reminds us that recovery is possible even after such a tragedy. And it is necessary to preserve the memory of its victims so that global nuclear war remains the greatest fear of all conscious people in the world. Ukraine understands this better than anyone else now: both the pain of losing people and cities and its duty to remember and tell. To revive, as Hiroshima managed," said Olena Zelenska.
The Ukrainian audio guide under the First Lady's initiative was prepared and recorded by the Embassy of Ukraine in Japan with the involvement of sponsorship and volunteers. In particular, Ukrainian students from the Japanese Economic University in Fukuoka assisted the Embassy in translating the text.
Opera singer Denys Vyshnia, who lives and works in Japan, voiced the Ukrainian-language audio guide.
