News

by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer

The Hiroshima Nagasaki Day Coalition (HNDC), a Toronto-based anti-nuclear group led by Setsuko Thurlow, 92, an A-bomb survivor living in the Canadian city, held a peace rally in front of Toronto City Hall on August 6 (local time). A video message from former Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka, 96, was also shown.

hiroshimapeacemedia.jp/?peacemovies=2024-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click here to watch Takashi Hiraoka’s video message.

According to the HNDC, about 200 people attended. Ms. Thurlow shared her account of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, which she experienced when she was 13. “The Canadian government refuses to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. We must raise our voices more,” she said.

In his five-minute video message, Mr. Hiraoka said, “Let the people of Hiroshima and Toronto join together and continue our efforts to immediately end all wars and achieve a world without nuclear weapons.” This video was produced after Ms. Thurlow met Mr. Hiraoka in Hiroshima during her temporary return to Japan last year; the Chugoku Shimbun cooperated in shooting the video. Mr. Hiraoka’s message was shown along with messages from the current mayors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Toronto.

In the lobby of City Hall, there was a panel exhibition about the history of Canada’s role in supplying uranium for the Manhattan Project, the U.S. atomic bomb development program, and the damage caused by the atomic bombings.

In a corner of the plaza is the Peace Garden, where people gather on anniversaries of the atomic bombings. This garden was created in 1984 through the efforts of Ms. Thurlow and other citizens. It has a flame brought back by Mr. Thurlow from the Flame of Peace in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and kindled there.

(Originally published on August 20, 2024)