On 7 November, 2006 the Permanent Mission of Japan received the Yokohama Children Peace Messengers. Ms. Ayumi Watanabe, Mr. Daiki Yanagihara, Ms. Eriko Morinaga, and Mr. Shinichiro Fujisaki are this year’s elementary and middle school student winners of the annual Yokohama original peace-related speech contest.

The students were accompanied by Mrs. Sylvia Fuhrman, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and her staff, the Yokohama Board of Education and the City of Yokohama New York Representative Office.

While at the Mission, they gave a brief presentation of the peace activities by the children in Yokohama to Minister Mari Miyoshi, who then engaged in spirited dialogue with them.

During their stay in NY, the Yokohama Peace Messengers met with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and participated in classes at UNIS.

The students also visited the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Office to present $123,715 donated by the people of the city of Yokohama.