-Iran's poison gas victims attend Memorial Ceremony, strengthen resolve

Members of the Hiroshima World Peace Mission (sponsored by the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation) attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony, visited the various monuments, and spoke on the radio. On the 6th, members of the peace missions that visited the Middle East, northeast Asia, and Europe welcomed Iranian and British citizens whom they met on those visits. On the 59th A-bomb Day, they deepened mutual understanding and the bonds they had formed and talked about their experiences on those visits over the air waves.

The eight Iranians, including poison gas victims, attended holding small placards in front of them. Written on them were their messages, such as "Toward a WMD-free world" translated into Japanese. They attended the ceremony with A-bomb survivor Takashi Teramoto (age 69; Ohno-cho, Hiroshima Prefecture) and pharmacist Shizuko Tsuya (age 49; Higashi-ku, Hiroshima), both members of the first Peace Mission.

Photojournalist Mahdi Jafari (34), a poison-gas survivor and employee of the Iran National News Agency, took extensive photos of the ceremony. Wiping sweat from his brow, he said, "I took 800 photos of the ceremony alone, to capture the solemn atmosphere created by the administration and the people together." Back in Iran, he plans to publish the photos in the newsletter of the Society for Chemical Weapons Victims Support, which sent the group to Japan.

Through a Persian-language interpreter, poison-gas victim Aboubakr Malkari (42) listened, nodding, to the Commitment to Peace read by two elementary school students. He stated his impressions: "Peace education has had an effect in Japan. I want Iranian children to learn about the poison gas incidents as well."

After the ceremony, the group offered paper cranes to the Memorial Cenotaph to the A-bomb Victims and vowed to maintain lifelong ties with Hiroshima. Teramoto said, "Watching the poison-gas victims endure sitting for a long time under the fierce sun despite their physical problems, I felt the power of their will to abolish both nuclear weapons and chemical weapons."

-UN PM Fitch toured the monuments with the third mission group

Members of the third group of the Peace Mission reunited at the ceremony with Secretary General Brian Fitch (63) of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, a United Nations NGO with which they had met in Brighton, a city in the south of England. While touring the monuments in the park, they continued to teach Fitch about the bombing.

Accompanied by in utero survivor Chieko Ishihara (age 58; Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima), who regularly tells her A-bomb experience to children, and three other guides, Fitch visited the Monument in the Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb and the A-bomb Memorial Mound, thinking about the still unidentified remains from the conflagration that occurred here 59 years ago.

Pointing out that this was his 14th visit to an A-bombed city since becoming chair of the association, Fitch said feelingly, "No matter how many times I come, Hiroshima helps me remember what happened here that day." He listened intently as Ishihara recounted her experience.

Fitch said, "It is so important to help the younger generations inherit this experience," To encourage him, Ishihara responded, "I will work on that in the A-bombed city. You go back to Brighton and strive to cultivate young people who will work for peace."

-Mission members appear on FM P-Station special program to cultivate mutual understanding

Appearing on Hiroshima P Station's special program "Hiroshima seen from Outside" were Haruka Katarao (age 22; from Asakita-ku, Hiroshima City), a fourth-year student at Tsuda College and member of the first group, which visited the Republic of South Africa and Iran; and Xunfei Yue (age 32; of Higashi-Hiroshima City), a Hiroshima University graduate student and member of the second group, which visited China and South Korea.

In a relay from the Memorial Ceremony that started at 8:00 a.m. and lasted 30 minutes, and in a one-hour live broadcast in a studio on the 9th floor of the Chugoku Shimbun building, Katarao stressed, "The facts about the atomic bombing have not been adequately conveyed in South Africa or Iran. But I felt a strong resonance to Hiroshima's plea for peace and reconciliation."

Yue, who visited China seeking reconciliation between Japan and his mother country, where anti-Japanese sentiment remains strong, said, "Even though views differ, both sides were able to talk honestly. Efforts like the Peace Mission will cultivate mutual understanding among the people and help create genuine peace."

(Caption right) Members of the 3rd group of the mission explain to Fitch the Monument in the Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb.

(Caption)After Memorial Ceremony, Iranian poison-gas victims carrying placards calling for peace head toward Memorial Cenotaph.