Anniversary of Hiroshima A-bombing to condemn inhumanity of nuclear weapons
Aug. 7, 2013
by Seiji Shitakubo, Staff Writer
Sixty-eight years have passed since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The city will hold its annual Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6, starting at 8:00 a.m., in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, located close to the hypocenter. There will be a continuous stream of people visiting the park to offer prayers for the souls of the victims and for peace. The message denouncing the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and calling for their abolition will be conveyed to the international community and the Japanese government.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two representatives from the families of the dead will place the register of A-bomb victims in the stone chest beneath the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. Over the past year, 5,859 A-bomb survivors passed away or their deaths were confirmed for the first time. Two more volumes have been added to the register, bringing the total to 104 volumes. In all, the register contains the names of 286,818 victims. An additional volume lists nine victims who died as a result of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki but whose families requested that their names be included in the register in Hiroshima.
At 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb was dropped, Shiori Sakoda, 32, a university employee living in Asakita Ward, and Rintaro Ito, 11, a sixth-grader at Fukuromachi Elementary School and a resident of Naka Ward, representing the bereaved families and children, respectively, will toll the Peace Bell, and those in attendance will offer a moment of silence.
In his Peace Declaration, Mr. Matsui will quote the experiences of five A-bomb survivors who suffered from prejudice against A-bomb survivors and from damage to their health. The mayor will once again express the city’s opposition to nuclear weapons, calling them “an absolute evil.” He will stress that Hiroshima is a place which embodies the pacifism of the Japanese Constitution and appeal to leaders around the world to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Mr. Matsui will call on the Japanese government to focus on the inhumane effects of nuclear weapons and strengthen its cooperation with countries supporting their abolition. The mayor will also express his concerns over continuing negotiations with India on exporting nuclear technology to that nation, a nuclear weapon state which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The “Commitment to Peace” will then be read by Shunji Takeuchi, 11, a sixth-grader at Yoshijima-higashi Elementary School and a resident of Naka Ward, and Yuzu Nakamori, 11, a sixth-grader at Kuchita Elementary School and a resident of Asakita Ward. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki will speak next. A message from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be delivered by Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Guests will include representatives from 70 nations and the European Union (EU). This will be the third time that U.S. Ambassador John Roos attends the Peace Memorial Ceremony. He also attended the ceremony last year. Representatives from the five nuclear powers, with the exception of China, will also be present.
(Originally published on August 6, 2013)
Sixty-eight years have passed since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The city will hold its annual Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6, starting at 8:00 a.m., in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, located close to the hypocenter. There will be a continuous stream of people visiting the park to offer prayers for the souls of the victims and for peace. The message denouncing the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and calling for their abolition will be conveyed to the international community and the Japanese government.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two representatives from the families of the dead will place the register of A-bomb victims in the stone chest beneath the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. Over the past year, 5,859 A-bomb survivors passed away or their deaths were confirmed for the first time. Two more volumes have been added to the register, bringing the total to 104 volumes. In all, the register contains the names of 286,818 victims. An additional volume lists nine victims who died as a result of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki but whose families requested that their names be included in the register in Hiroshima.
At 8:15 a.m., the time the atomic bomb was dropped, Shiori Sakoda, 32, a university employee living in Asakita Ward, and Rintaro Ito, 11, a sixth-grader at Fukuromachi Elementary School and a resident of Naka Ward, representing the bereaved families and children, respectively, will toll the Peace Bell, and those in attendance will offer a moment of silence.
In his Peace Declaration, Mr. Matsui will quote the experiences of five A-bomb survivors who suffered from prejudice against A-bomb survivors and from damage to their health. The mayor will once again express the city’s opposition to nuclear weapons, calling them “an absolute evil.” He will stress that Hiroshima is a place which embodies the pacifism of the Japanese Constitution and appeal to leaders around the world to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Mr. Matsui will call on the Japanese government to focus on the inhumane effects of nuclear weapons and strengthen its cooperation with countries supporting their abolition. The mayor will also express his concerns over continuing negotiations with India on exporting nuclear technology to that nation, a nuclear weapon state which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The “Commitment to Peace” will then be read by Shunji Takeuchi, 11, a sixth-grader at Yoshijima-higashi Elementary School and a resident of Naka Ward, and Yuzu Nakamori, 11, a sixth-grader at Kuchita Elementary School and a resident of Asakita Ward. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki will speak next. A message from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be delivered by Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Guests will include representatives from 70 nations and the European Union (EU). This will be the third time that U.S. Ambassador John Roos attends the Peace Memorial Ceremony. He also attended the ceremony last year. Representatives from the five nuclear powers, with the exception of China, will also be present.
(Originally published on August 6, 2013)
