Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony to mark 70th anniversary of atomic bombing
Aug. 20, 2015
by Kohei Okata, Staff Writer
Hiroshima and its citizens suffered an atomic bomb attack on August 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. To mark the 70th anniversary of this day, the City of Hiroshima will hold the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony and remember the victims of this inhumane weapon. The ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. in the Peace Memorial Park and will also serve as an opportunity to share Hiroshima’s appeal for nuclear abolition and an end to war with the people of the world, urging them to take action for the cause of peace.
Among those in attendance will be Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and about 10 survivors and relatives of survivors who moved away from Hiroshima to live overseas. They have been invited by the municipal government as part of the city’s efforts to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing. Representatives from a record 100 countries and the European Union will attend as guests. Starting this year, 9,500 out of 11,000 seats will be covered by large tents to provide protection from the scorching sun.
During the ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two people representing the families of the victims will place the register of the A-bomb dead in the stone chest beneath the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. The names of 5,359 people who died or were confirmed dead during the past year have been newly entered into the register. With two more volumes added, the register now contains the names of 297,684 victims in 109 volumes. Representatives will lay wreathes of flowers in front of the cenotaph, and at 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb exploded above the city, all in attendance will offer a silent prayer, during which the Peace Bell is tolled by two people: Hiromi Kanagawa, 38, a clerical worker, representing the victims’ families, and Yuki Higashikawa, 12, a sixth-grader at Danbara Elementary School, representing children.
In his Peace Declaration, Mr. Matsui will use the term “Madotekure!” In the Hiroshima dialect this word expresses “the heartbroken cry of hibakusha who want Hiroshima—their hometown, their families, their own minds and bodies—put back the way it was.” He will encourage world leaders to have the “generosity and love for humanity” that exist in the survivors’ hearts and to overcome the mutual distrust and fear produced by suspicion as a step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.
He will also state that the City of Hiroshima will work hard to convey the facts of the bombing to coming generations and do its utmost to advance negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention. He will then call on U.S. President Barack Obama and other policymakers to visit the A-bombed cities and urge them to “start discussing a legal framework, including a nuclear weapons convention.” On the other hand, he will not refer to the new security bills that, if passed, will enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. The bills are now being deliberated in the Upper House of Japan’s Diet. Mr. Matsui will urge world leaders to create “broadly versatile security systems that do not depend on military might.”
The “Commitment to Peace” will be read by two children's representatives: Yuro Kuwahara, 12, and Yuka Hosokawa, 11, sixth-graders at Hakushima Elementary School and Yanominami Elementary School, respectively. For the first time, a U.N. choir will join in the singing of the “Hiroshima Peace Song” at the end of the ceremony. The choir is visiting Japan to give a series of concerts.
(Originally published on August 6, 2015)
Hiroshima and its citizens suffered an atomic bomb attack on August 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. To mark the 70th anniversary of this day, the City of Hiroshima will hold the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony and remember the victims of this inhumane weapon. The ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. in the Peace Memorial Park and will also serve as an opportunity to share Hiroshima’s appeal for nuclear abolition and an end to war with the people of the world, urging them to take action for the cause of peace.
Among those in attendance will be Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and about 10 survivors and relatives of survivors who moved away from Hiroshima to live overseas. They have been invited by the municipal government as part of the city’s efforts to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing. Representatives from a record 100 countries and the European Union will attend as guests. Starting this year, 9,500 out of 11,000 seats will be covered by large tents to provide protection from the scorching sun.
During the ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two people representing the families of the victims will place the register of the A-bomb dead in the stone chest beneath the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. The names of 5,359 people who died or were confirmed dead during the past year have been newly entered into the register. With two more volumes added, the register now contains the names of 297,684 victims in 109 volumes. Representatives will lay wreathes of flowers in front of the cenotaph, and at 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb exploded above the city, all in attendance will offer a silent prayer, during which the Peace Bell is tolled by two people: Hiromi Kanagawa, 38, a clerical worker, representing the victims’ families, and Yuki Higashikawa, 12, a sixth-grader at Danbara Elementary School, representing children.
In his Peace Declaration, Mr. Matsui will use the term “Madotekure!” In the Hiroshima dialect this word expresses “the heartbroken cry of hibakusha who want Hiroshima—their hometown, their families, their own minds and bodies—put back the way it was.” He will encourage world leaders to have the “generosity and love for humanity” that exist in the survivors’ hearts and to overcome the mutual distrust and fear produced by suspicion as a step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.
He will also state that the City of Hiroshima will work hard to convey the facts of the bombing to coming generations and do its utmost to advance negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention. He will then call on U.S. President Barack Obama and other policymakers to visit the A-bombed cities and urge them to “start discussing a legal framework, including a nuclear weapons convention.” On the other hand, he will not refer to the new security bills that, if passed, will enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. The bills are now being deliberated in the Upper House of Japan’s Diet. Mr. Matsui will urge world leaders to create “broadly versatile security systems that do not depend on military might.”
The “Commitment to Peace” will be read by two children's representatives: Yuro Kuwahara, 12, and Yuka Hosokawa, 11, sixth-graders at Hakushima Elementary School and Yanominami Elementary School, respectively. For the first time, a U.N. choir will join in the singing of the “Hiroshima Peace Song” at the end of the ceremony. The choir is visiting Japan to give a series of concerts.
(Originally published on August 6, 2015)
