×

News

Peace Ribbon gathering takes place towards a world without nuclear weapons, expressing wishes for peace on ribbon banners.

by Hidekazu Yamada, Staff Writer

On August 1, the Peace Ribbon gathering was held at the Peace Memorial Museum in Naka Ward, Hiroshima. The aim of this gathering is to hold up ribbon banners expressing participants’ wishes for realizing a world without nuclear weapons. The event has taken place every five years since 1990, and until this year, participants had encircled the A-bomb Dome while holding peace ribbon banners in their hands. This year’s gathering, however, was held indoors to prevent spread of COVID-19 infection.

The size of each ribbon banner is 50 centimeters tall and 100 centimeters wide. On the banners, children and Girl Scouts throughout Japan have drawn designs such as doves and the earth with paint and embroidery, or written the word “peace” in different languages. About 20 people associated with the group called Hiroshima Peace Ribbon organization, which consists of citizens such as the A-bomb survivors and members of the “Girl Scouts Hiroshima.”

Sadae Kasaoka 87, an A-bomb survivor and resident in Nishi Ward, shared her A-bomb experience with the participants. Ms. Kasaoka took over the organization’s activity from the late Miyoko Watanabe, who had supported the gathering for a long time and passed away at the age of 85 in 2015. Ms. Kasaoka made an appeal to the participants, by saying, “The atomic bomb is a lump of evil which took away peoples’ dreams and hopes along with their lives. I hope you will convey terror and woefulness of the nuclear weapons to those who don’t know such facts well.”

During this year’s gathering, the seventh such gathering for the group, participants were originally scheduled to have a parade along Peace Boulevard, but they gave up that plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order for the activity to be known to as many as possible, however, the gathering was livestreamed on Facebook.

(Originally published on August 2, 2020)

Archives