2017 / Little Tokyo Rotary Club to host talk event by daughter of first U.S. diplomat assigned to Hiroshima after the Atomic-bombing, April 25

Rotary Club of Little Tokyo will host talk event “My Hiroshima story: Waging peace after the A-Bomb” at Miyako Hotel, 328 East First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 on Tuesday, April 25 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Costs are $35 per person including refreshments and snack buffet. The event is open to Rotary members and non-members. For RSVP, email to okamoto.rclittletokyo@gmail.com

Farida Fotouhi, daughter of American diplomat assigned to Hiroshima, was 6 years old when she arrived at Hiroshima in 1953. And she spent four and half years in Hiroshima and attended an all-Japanese grade school.

At age of seven, Farida drew a graphic novel in Japanese  which was a metaphor for the atomic-bombing victims. And 60 years later, Farida rediscovered the graphics and self-published “Charcoal Girl: Meeting the ghost of the A-bomb in 1954 Hiroshima.”

Farida’s lively talk is a personal story that affirms the human capacity to build bridge across geopolitical and cultural divides. Her father, an Iranian –American, was the first U.S. diplomat in Hiroshima after the atomic-bombing. Farida talks how her family and the city of Hiroshima waged peace after nuclear war, and nourished the foundation of the Japan-America alliance.

The event includes excerpts from the NHK TV documentary about Farida that ran 4 times nationwide in Japan.

Currently Farida is President of Reality2, a branding and marketing firm in business in Los Angeles for 30 years.

The book “Charcoal Girl” will be available for purchase at the event with proceeds donated to Rotary.