Documenting Hiroshima 80 years after A-bombing: August 6, 1951, peace ceremony held in Hiroshima for first time in two years
Feb. 20, 2025
by Michio Shimotaka, Staff Writer
On August 6, 1951, the Memorial Service for the A-bomb Victims / Peace Memorial Ceremony (present-day Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony) was held in a square at front of the Hiroshima City Memorial Monument for the War Victims, located in the area of Nakajima-honmachi (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Peace Memorial Park). The ceremony was organized by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Service Committee, comprised of the Hiroshima City government and other organizations. The previous year, the Hiroshima Peace Festival had been cancelled after negotiations with the occupation forces. This year, effects from the Korean War were still in evidence.
U.S. military aircraft dropped flower wreaths over the ceremony, which was attended by U.S. Air Force soldiers who had flown missions in the Korean Peninsula. Hiroshima City Mayor Shinso Hamai delivered a “mayoral speech,” instead of the Peace Declaration, in which he mourned the victims of the atomic bombing and pledged to make efforts for peace. With consciousness about August 6 and the ongoing war, the Hiroshima poet Sankichi Toge compiled the poetry collection titled Genbaku Shishu (in English, “Poems of the Atomic Bomb”), releasing the collection of his poems to the public on September 20.
(Originally published on February 20, 2025)
On August 6, 1951, the Memorial Service for the A-bomb Victims / Peace Memorial Ceremony (present-day Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony) was held in a square at front of the Hiroshima City Memorial Monument for the War Victims, located in the area of Nakajima-honmachi (in Hiroshima City’s present-day Peace Memorial Park). The ceremony was organized by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Service Committee, comprised of the Hiroshima City government and other organizations. The previous year, the Hiroshima Peace Festival had been cancelled after negotiations with the occupation forces. This year, effects from the Korean War were still in evidence.
U.S. military aircraft dropped flower wreaths over the ceremony, which was attended by U.S. Air Force soldiers who had flown missions in the Korean Peninsula. Hiroshima City Mayor Shinso Hamai delivered a “mayoral speech,” instead of the Peace Declaration, in which he mourned the victims of the atomic bombing and pledged to make efforts for peace. With consciousness about August 6 and the ongoing war, the Hiroshima poet Sankichi Toge compiled the poetry collection titled Genbaku Shishu (in English, “Poems of the Atomic Bomb”), releasing the collection of his poems to the public on September 20.
(Originally published on February 20, 2025)
