A group of students from Hiroshima University arrived in Moscow on Tuesday, Sept 1, as a part of the Mega-Exchange program that began in May of 2026. A group of University of Idaho students visited Hiroshima in the spring 2026 semester, promoting cooperation between the two countries through student exchanges. This program is funded by the US-Japan Council with the purpose to teach Japanese students about American peace and sustainability.
After arriving in Moscow, the Hiroshima students and faculty (33 in total) traveled to the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) to learn about sustainability. The students stopped at the site of the former Kooskia Japanese internment camp and learned about World War Two from the American perspective, as well as what happened to Japanese-Americans during this time.
In an Argonaut interview, the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences Dean Sean Quinlan stated that it is important to learn about how war “shapes the present and future” and how we can use this to “build a better future.”
In the coming days, the Hiroshima students will be helping to construct a second torii gate at the UI pollinator garden with help from Dr. David Roon as their last project. The last group of Hiroshima students to visit constructed the first torii gate, and they are meant to symbolize the history and relationship between Hiroshima University and UI. These gates will remain in the pollinator garden for as long as they stand.
Quinlan also shared what this program means for the two countries, saying that the US and Japan rebuilding their relationship so soon “gives us hope about the future.”
The history between Hiroshima University and UI goes back to 1951, when UI responded to Hiroshima’s call for cooperation. In 2011, Hiroshima University sent UI building rafters from the atomic bombing of the city, which are currently held in the Asian Special Collections. In 2022, Keiko Ogura, a Hiroshima bombing survivor, came to UI to give a speech. Hundreds of people attended this event, one of the biggest in UI history.
When discussing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Japanese sentiment towards it, Quinlan said Hiroshima took the bombing and “turned it into a universal warning about war, that the city could rebuild itself and the people could look into the future.”
Kevan Mitchell can be reached at [email protected]