Graffiti found on plate explaining Forest of Hibakusha and park lamps on Hiroshima’s Peace Boulevard
Oct. 15, 2020
by Hajime Niiyama, Staff Writer
On October 14, it was announced that graffiti had been discovered on a plate set up to explain the Forest of Hibakusha on Peace Boulevard, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, as well as on nine park lamps in the area around the plate. The symbol-like graffiti appears to have been written with a silver marker. The same day, the Hiroshima City government filed a damage report with the Hiroshima Chuo Police Station.
The graffiti was written on both ends of the 60-by-100-centimeter plate that explains the names and locations of trees donated by A-bomb survivor groups active in the 47 prefectures of Japan. On October 13, after the city government was informed of the problem by a Hiroshima citizen, similar graffiti was found on nine of the 32 one-meter park lamps in the area around the plate. No such problems were in evidence when the area was inspected on July 30.
The Forest of Hibakusha includes about 120 gingko, camphor, and other trees. A-bomb survivors’ groups from across the country donated prefectural trees to Hiroshima City in 1990, the 45th anniversary of the atomic bombing, based on their hopes for peace. Naka Ward’s maintenance division, caretaker of the park area, indicated, “This is the property of the people of Hiroshima and a place at which the souls of A-bomb victims can be consoled. We don’t want anything like this to happen again.”
(Originally published on October 15, 2020)
On October 14, it was announced that graffiti had been discovered on a plate set up to explain the Forest of Hibakusha on Peace Boulevard, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, as well as on nine park lamps in the area around the plate. The symbol-like graffiti appears to have been written with a silver marker. The same day, the Hiroshima City government filed a damage report with the Hiroshima Chuo Police Station.
The graffiti was written on both ends of the 60-by-100-centimeter plate that explains the names and locations of trees donated by A-bomb survivor groups active in the 47 prefectures of Japan. On October 13, after the city government was informed of the problem by a Hiroshima citizen, similar graffiti was found on nine of the 32 one-meter park lamps in the area around the plate. No such problems were in evidence when the area was inspected on July 30.
The Forest of Hibakusha includes about 120 gingko, camphor, and other trees. A-bomb survivors’ groups from across the country donated prefectural trees to Hiroshima City in 1990, the 45th anniversary of the atomic bombing, based on their hopes for peace. Naka Ward’s maintenance division, caretaker of the park area, indicated, “This is the property of the people of Hiroshima and a place at which the souls of A-bomb victims can be consoled. We don’t want anything like this to happen again.”
(Originally published on October 15, 2020)
