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Hello, I'm Yumi Kikuchi, initiator and international coordinator for the Global Peace Campaign. Upon calling for donation, I was asked to provide more information about who is organizing this campaign, so I would like to share with you my self introduction and the story about how this campaign began.

I am currently operating Harmonics Life Center out of my two hundred-year old house in the mountains of Kamogawa, Chiba prefecture. The Center hosts various workshops on natural healing and natural foods lead by wonderful guests from overseas. I have four children, two are still babies, and the other two living in London. My husband, Gen Morita is a doctor of natural medicine, as well as a former musician. Since we have young children, we cannot move around too freely, so we try to do everything in this area as much as possible.

Two days following the terrorist attacks in the United Sates, I received a mail from Tom Atley of Oregon. He is a good friend of mine who worked together for the Y2K issue. Tom sent me the letter by Greg Nees addressed to President Bush, along with a comment that said "This is a very calm letter. How about colleting donations from ex-servicemen and printing it in the paper? " I immediately replied to Tom's mail, letting him know of my desire to start an action, and to send donation. I contacted Greg to ask for his permission to translate and circulate his letter in Japan. Greg responded by saying that "If that letter can be used for the purpose of stopping war, please use it in any way you would like."

I then contacted Nori Huddle in the U.S., Paul Swan in England to ask their support for the Global Peace Campaign. I have been working on "Best Game" with Nori for the past twelve years, and I had gone to the G8 summit in Berlin with Paul during the Y2K crisis. I also contacted friends in Australia, New Zealand and Germany. Nori contacted his friend in Belgium, Paul contacted his friends in England. On September 15, 2001, the Global Peace Campaign was officially established on the Internet.

In Japan, Mr. Nishida of Tokyo Broadcasting Service introduced me to Bow Yamada of Kobe Genkimura, and he then established the network within Japan with amazing speed.

We are currently in contact with the Public Media Center in San Francisco regarding the actual production of the ad. We are currently waiting for their estimate and the best timing for the ad. While we cannot tell when we can place an ad in the NY Times and Washington Post because they have so many articles right now, we will place our ad in either of the paper as soon as we can secure a spot.

The price for ad in the NY Times is $140,000 (17 million yen) per page. We do not know of the price for Washington Post yet. In addition to this cost,there is the ad production cost to consider, so we are looking at around 20 million yen. Of course, it would be best if we do not have to spend this much money, so we are sending this letter out to all sorts of newspapers throughout the United States. However, at present, it is difficult for voices calling for peace and truth to be printed in major newspapers, and we have not been able to have the letter published yet.

I received a call from the editor of "You Maga", a Japanese language newspaper in Seattle, who expressed his desire to print the letter in their paper. While this is still being considered, I hope that the letter will reach as many Americans and citizens of all nations residing in the United States through any form of media.

Another great news is that Asahi, TBS, and Kyodo may broadcast the news about this campaign. The TV crews from TBS are coming here tonight. Since the state of the world is volatile right now, I don't know if the news will be aired, but I am grateful that there are people in the media who are willing to pick up citizens movement for peace.

I would like to apologize to everyone who is trying to contact me. I am receiving so many telephone calls and e-mails, I have not been able to respond to all. I would really appreciate if I could have some help on babysitting and housework until this campaign is over. Yet, I know I can only do what I can, so I will try my best.

There has not been any time like this moment in which I am so grateful for all the domestic and international network of people I have come to know through my involvement in environmental and Y2K issues. I feel that all the experience I had until now was in preparation for this campaign.

Just as the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh maintained balance through focusing in breathing under any circumstance, I would like to walk the path of global peace with all the people around the world who wish for peace, one step at a time, while making sure that I do not overlook the simple things of everyday life.

Thank you very much.

Yumi Kikuchi

"Do unto others what you wish to experience."
Words of Neil Donald Walch, author of Discourses with God