Hiroshima citizens’ group produces CD of anti-nuclear song in support of Semipalatinsk
Nov. 13, 2010
by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer
A Hiroshima-based citizens’ group which continues to provide medical support for the city of Semey (formerly Semipalatinsk) in Kazakhstan, where the former Soviet Union maintained a nuclear test site, has produced a CD of the song “ZAMAN-AI: The Times!,” a song symbolic of the campaign against nuclear testing in the 1980s.
The citizens’ group is the “Hiroshima Semipalatinsk Project,” or “Hirosemi.” The song, with a plaintive melody, speaks out about the tragedy of nuclear testing: “My hometown has been torn apart by countless explosions and flashes.” The song was sung by Roza Rymvaeva, a Kazakh singer, who is associated with the citizens’ group.
For the CD, TOMOKO, a singer in Tokyo who was moved by the song when it aired on a TV program, sang the song both in English and Japanese. The CD also include a Kazakh version of the song, sung by Ms. Rymvaeva. Artist Hiroo Kawasaki, a resident of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima, designed the CD jacket, incorporating the image of a statue of a mother and child that stands in a park in Semey.
On November 10, a news conference was held at Hiroshima City Hall, and TOMOKO performed the song. Roughly 450 nuclear tests were repeatedly conducted in Semey, damaging the health of local residents. Keiichi Sasaki, a representative of “Hirosemi,” said, “Joining forces with nuclear-affected sufferers in the world will help promote the elimination of nuclear weapons. I hope many people will listen to the CD.”
Copies of the CD are being sold for 1,000 yen. For further information, please call 082-274-1634.
(Originally published on November 11, 2010)
A Hiroshima-based citizens’ group which continues to provide medical support for the city of Semey (formerly Semipalatinsk) in Kazakhstan, where the former Soviet Union maintained a nuclear test site, has produced a CD of the song “ZAMAN-AI: The Times!,” a song symbolic of the campaign against nuclear testing in the 1980s.
The citizens’ group is the “Hiroshima Semipalatinsk Project,” or “Hirosemi.” The song, with a plaintive melody, speaks out about the tragedy of nuclear testing: “My hometown has been torn apart by countless explosions and flashes.” The song was sung by Roza Rymvaeva, a Kazakh singer, who is associated with the citizens’ group.
For the CD, TOMOKO, a singer in Tokyo who was moved by the song when it aired on a TV program, sang the song both in English and Japanese. The CD also include a Kazakh version of the song, sung by Ms. Rymvaeva. Artist Hiroo Kawasaki, a resident of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima, designed the CD jacket, incorporating the image of a statue of a mother and child that stands in a park in Semey.
On November 10, a news conference was held at Hiroshima City Hall, and TOMOKO performed the song. Roughly 450 nuclear tests were repeatedly conducted in Semey, damaging the health of local residents. Keiichi Sasaki, a representative of “Hirosemi,” said, “Joining forces with nuclear-affected sufferers in the world will help promote the elimination of nuclear weapons. I hope many people will listen to the CD.”
Copies of the CD are being sold for 1,000 yen. For further information, please call 082-274-1634.
(Originally published on November 11, 2010)
