×

News

World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates opens in Hiroshima

by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer

On November 12, “The 2010 World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates” opened at the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima. Nobel Peace Prize laureates and representatives of Nobel Peace Prize-winning organizations have come together in Hiroshima for discussions under the theme of “The Legacy of Hiroshima: A World Without Nuclear Weapons.” The gathering in Hiroshima marks the 11th summit and is the first such event to be held in Japan.

At the opening session, students of Noboricho Elementary School sang “Aogiri no Uta” (“Song of the A-bombed Tree”) and “Orizuru no Tobu Hi” (“The Day the Paper Crane Flies”) to welcome the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Citizens filling the summit venue offered spirited applause to the laureates as representatives of Hiroshima Municipal Technical High School presented them with golden metal cranes which the students themselves had crafted. The Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including the 14th Dalai Lama, warmly shook hands with the students.

Akihiro Takahashi, 79, former director of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, then shared his A-bomb experience with the participants. Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, in his greeting to the laureates, referred to the appeal for nuclear abolition made by the A-bomb survivors, who point to their painful experiences as a warning so that the tragedy will never be repeated. The mayor went on to urge the Nobel Peace Prize laureates to share their guidance in solving the global problems that weigh upon the lives of human beings.

Three sessions are being held on November 12. The Nobel Peace Prize laureates and others are discussing such topics as “The Legacy of Hiroshima.” On November 13, discussion will continue with sessions including “Progress towards a world without nuclear weapons: the results of the ongoing international negotiations and the role of Cities and of Civil Society.” On November 14 at 9:30 a.m., the final day of the summit, the Nobel Peace Prize laureates will, in turn, deliver remarks to the public in Peace Memorial Park in downtown Hiroshima.

Wuer Kaixi, a former student leader in the pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989, is also attending the summit as a surrogate for the imprisoned Liu Xiaobo, a human rights activist in China and this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A message to be made at the summit, on human rights issues in China, has also attracted attention.

The summit’s secretariat in Rome, one of the organizers of the event, announced that Lech Walesa, former president of Poland, was forced to suddenly cancel his planned participation at the gathering due to health concerns. The number of individual Nobel Peace Prize laureates in attendance at the summit has been reduced to six.

(Originally published on November 12, 2010)

Related articles
World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates opens on November 12 (Nov. 11, 2010)

Archives