Concerto on a Stringed Survivor

Where We Call Home.

From Hiroshima, this boy and his mother have been sending support to Ukraine.

Ukrainian-born Hiraishi Olena and her son Eishin.

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked worries over their potential use of nuclear weapons, Olena and Eishin have decided to hold a concert to pray for a peaceful world.

Nuclear weapons should never be used.

The people of Hiroshima understand
our wish for peace.

The two listen to the story of someone who survived the bombing of Hiroshima.

People were burned and covered in blood.

Let's follow Olena and Eishin...

...as they send their musical prayer for peace in Ukraine and the world.

Hiroshima has a population of around 1.2 million.

Here, on August 6th, 1945, at the end of World War II, a nuclear bomb was dropped on civilians for the first time in history.

The city was devastated by the blast.

By the end of the year, the disaster had taken some 140,000 lives.

77 years later, in 2022.

In the streets of Hiroshima...

...the Ukrainian national anthem can be heard.

Playing the violin is 15-year-old Hiraishi Eishin.

Standing nearby is his mother, Olena.

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine this February, the two started holding charity concerts here in Hiroshima.

In two months, Eishin gave a total of eleven live performances in and around the city.

With the proceeds, they bought emergency supplies, which they sent to Olena's home country.

So many people offered their support.
It's wonderful.

Thanks to the many donations we received,
we were able to send medicine to Ukraine.

Olena's family counts five members.

Her husband, Masashi.

Their twin sons, Taishi and Koichi.

And their youngest boy, Eishin.

Although Eishin is studying in Germany to become a professional violinist, he's returned to Japan temporarily and is doing charity work for Ukraine.

It's better to send as much money
as we can to support Ukraine.

Olena was born in 1979 in Ukraine's central eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk to a Ukrainian mother and Russian father.

She was seven when catastrophe hit her country: the Chornobyl nuclear plant accident.

She saw many irradiated victims slowly die of cancer and other complications.

The experience forever engraved the horror of nuclear disasters and weapons in her heart.

Olena went on to major in linguistics in university, with a particular interest in Japanese.

After graduating, she came to Japan to study, and had the desire to visit Hiroshima.

In Ukraine, we had the Chornobyl disaster,
so I felt a connection with Hiroshima.

When she first saw the city, she explains the sight left a strong impression on her.

I was so amazed to see how, in spite
of having been through such devastation...

Hiroshima had recovered.

It feels like the entire city
is imbued with the strong wish...

for this tragic history
to never repeat itself.

The 77th summer since the tragedy of the bomb.

Olena and her family gathered for the first time in three years near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial to offer a silent prayer.

Half a year has passed since the invasion.

The media has begun to speculate over the risk that Russia might resort to using nuclear weapons.

Olena's childhood fear of nuclear disaster and nuclear war has resurfaced.

She and Eishin make a visit to a museum.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

In this time of uncertainty, they feel the need to better understand the horror and tragedy brought by the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

It's painful.

As a mom, it hurts to look
at images of kids.

Looking at pictures of babies...

I see how, in spite of the destruction,
new lives continue to be born.

Like flowers blooming here and there.

I feel a strong connection
with what's happening in Ukraine.

Olena suggests that Eishin and his friend Jundai, who's been accompanying them in their support efforts for Ukraine, incorporate the theme of a "wish for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons" into their next charity concert.

Nuclear weapons must never be used.

As they experienced the bomb, the people
of Hiroshima share our wish for peace.

They begin rehearsing.

I can do the speed, intonation and tempo.

Yes, Lalo.

It's hard.

It's very slow, right?

To better convey their message, what pieces should they choose?

And how should they play them?

The three explore the possibilities.

Olena and Eishin decide to listen to the story of a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing.

Nice to meet you.

85-year-old, Yahata Teruko.

An elementary school student at the time, she was home when the bomb fell.

Miraculously, all of her family members who were with her survived.

They made their narrow escape to where this elementary school now stands.

Until she turned eighty, Yahata had never actively shared her experience.

But as fewer and fewer survivors remain, she began working to tell people about the horrors of nuclear weapons.

There was a blinding flash in the sky,
like a giant fluorescent light.

Dozens upon dozens of burnt victims
came fleeing from the city center.

Their clothes were burnt off.

The skin on their faces
and bodies was peeling off.

We walked through that crowd
and arrived here.

It was full of burnt victims.

'Let's all die together!'
my mother shouted.

As I sat shoulder to shoulder with
my family, I could feel their warmth...

and the bond that united us.

Seven decades later, I still remember.

You lost your home, lived with strangers...
It must've changed how you see life.

When I see images of Ukraine now,
I'm reminded of that time.

I can feel it with all my senses.

The smells after the explosion.
The smell of bodies burning...

Yahata's words leave their marks in the minds of Olena and Eishin.

That evening, Eishin is inspired to play a certain piece.

- So?
- It's nice.

I think we can close the show with "Thaïs."

Meditation by French composer, Jules Massenet.

An intermezzo - a musical intermission - from the 19th-century opera "Thaïs," the piece is said to represent the eponymous main character as she decides to follow the path of God.

They have one week left before the concert.

Olena has another wish for the upcoming performance.

She'd like Eishin to play on a very special violin.

Here is the donated violin.

The instrument survived the bombing of Hiroshima.

It belonged to Sergei Palchikoff, a Russian immigrant who was teaching music at a girls' school in Hiroshima back in 1945.

It was at Palchikoff's home when the bomb fell.

It was later restored then donated to the museum.

They look for the maker's name inside the violin.

Yuri... Palchikoff.

It's either written in old Russian
or Ukrainian.

The writing is old.

The name is that of Palchikoff's older brother.

The instrument was passed on from one Ukrainian brother to the other.

Olena feels it is fate that gave Eishin - who's himself of Ukrainian descent - the opportunity to play it.

The day before the concert, the family visits the grave of Eishin's grandfather, Hiraishi Nobuo.

At the age of seventeen, he was near Hiroshima station when the bomb struck.

Fearing prejudice and discrimination, he hid the fact that he'd been exposed to radiation from the blast.

He also instructed his son, Masashi, not to reveal he was the child of an atomic bomb victim.

And now, Nobuo's grandson Eishin is about to perform a concert carrying a message of peace.

I'd hope he could see Eishin perform.
Sadly, it won't be possible.

But by spreading his wings and thriving,
Eishin can honor his grandfather's memory.

With the violin, Eishin will cast
a message of peace into the world.

I'm sure his grandfather is proud of him.

The day has come.

As a backdrop to the performance, the "Kids' Guernica," a painting by the children of Hiroshima with a motif of the four seasons in Japan and Ukraine, also sends its own prayer for peace.

150 people have come - a full audience.

Among the spectators are Ukrainians from Dnipropetrovsk who fled the war this late August.

Ms. Yahata, the bombing survivor, is also here.

The duo plays the six pieces they've been performing during their street charity concerts.

They then leave for a brief intermission before heading back to the stage with the precious violin.

Tonight's concert is special.
Hiroshima Jogakuin University...

lent me this violin that survived
the bomb on Hiroshima.

Here's our message of peace:
"Méditation" from "Thaïs."

May the world be without nuclear weapons... without war.

Casting its musical message, the sound of the violin echoes through the theater.

By playing on this violin,
their message got through to everyone.

I played hoping our message
for world peace could reach the audience.

I want to hold many more
concerts like this.

Ms. Yahata explains how the performance encouraged her in her mission to tell her story.

Their playing deeply moved me.

This motivates me to work harder
to spread my own message of peace...

to future generations.

Carrying a prayer for a world without nuclear weapons and for peace to return to Ukraine, floating through Hiroshima is the melody of Eishin's violin.

This is where we call home!

Hello, my name is Sally Hancox.

I'm running a natural indigo studio on Awaji Island.

Today, let's have a look into the world of natural indigo dyeing.

Awaji Island.

Sally’s workshop.

9:30 a.m.
work starts.

So, I'm just stitching around a big circle, and then afterwards, I'm going to bind this.

It's going to be where the pattern is.

It's a traditional method called "shibori."

It's going to be like a weird tree shape when I'm finished.

This is natural indigo.

The dye is alive. So, every day we're checking the PH and temperature and what color it's dyeing.

I'm gonna dye now.

The dye gradually turns blue as it comes
in contact with the oxygen in the air.

It's getting darker.

She repeatedly rinses and dyes the cloth
several times to further deepen the color.

There are no mistakes!

Or are there?

Here's the result!

People often say her creations feel as if
they were inspired by elements of nature.

She also runs a store
that's next to her workshop.

- You have so many amazing pieces!
- Thank you.

That's my teacher.

She taught me this technique
for tying decorative strings.

- Keep it up!
- Thank you.

Sally studied art in university then came
to Japan to experience its culture.

In 2011, she met Okada Jun-ichi,
who worked as a web designer.

In 2015, they moved to Awaji Island
and began doing indigo dyeing.

We wanted to live somewhere spacious for the child, but also so that we could have kind of a creative job.

Awaji island is next to Tokushima, and Tokushima is very famous for Indigo dyeing, and...

...so, we went there a few times and found out more and bought some books and looked...

and looked stuff up on the internet and gradually learned more and got into it.

This is my business partner and husband, Jun-ichi.

We each do different steps
in the process.

I'm the one who takes charge
of the fermentation of the dye solution.

Sally does all the sewing.

At first, we sold pieces we dyed
in our garden at the market.

When we saw they became popular,
we decided to set up a workshop.

He pushed me it to do more things I don't want to do.

Is that a good thing?

For example, the caps.

He told me, ‘Make a cap.' I said, ‘I can't do that.' But he said, ‘You have to do it! you have to do it!' And then, actually, I could.

So, I was surprised, ‘Oh, I could do it!' So, if he hadn't said that, I wouldn't have tried.

She really seems to enjoy creating.

Now, after I show you how to make different patterns, we'll dye something. OK?

2:00 p.m.
workshop.

Today, Sally teaches a group
of young islanders.

OK, so, now it's this green color.

Bright green.

And then we put it into the water.

And it's changing blue.

OK.

There, we're gonna dip and swish!

Let's have a look.

Oh yeah! Look at that beautiful color.

There's a few moments that are really special.

They wash it and it's blue and you don't really know what it's going to look like until the end.

I love to share the magic of it and, see people, like, realize how magical it is for the first time as well.

That just feels good to share it.

My treasure is the "sukumo" that we made by ourself.

"Sukumo" is a fermented dried Indigo leaf.

That's what we're using for the basis of our dye.

And it took one year and six months until we could make a vat from it.

It's just learning more and getting better at it and, like, spreading the different messages that you can say with... through natural indigo to different people.

So long as it's still fun.