As pop star turned activist Shinji Harada performs around the world, including at a special United Nations concert this month in New York, he is reminded of the importance his hometown of Hiroshima plays as the nexus of a global peace movement 68 years after an atomic bomb destroyed the city.
"Now it is our mission (people from Hiroshima) to spread the message of peace to all the cities (around the world)," he told a packed house in a U.N. hall on Sept. 6. He sang two original songs while playing the keyboards as part of a performance during a high level forum on the Culture of Peace.
Whether singing in New York, Mexico or Japan, Harada, harnessing his distinctive husky voice, strives to bridge cultural, linguistic and generational barriers for the purpose of peace.