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Pledge to realize nuclear abolition will be renewed at 69th anniversary of Hiroshima A-bombing

by Kohei Okata, Staff Writer

Sixty-nine years have passed since an atomic bomb was detonated over a civilian population for the first time in human history. The A-bomb attack on Hiroshima killed scores of people, blighted the lives of many others, and even damaged the genes of survivors through radiation spewed across the city. On August 6, the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing, the City of Hiroshima will hold the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, starting at 8 a.m. People will remember the horrific event, mourn for the dead, and pledge to help realize a peaceful world, free of nuclear weapons.

A-bomb survivors and family members of the victims will attend the ceremony from 41 prefectures, along with Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, and Bunmei Ibuki, the speaker of the House of Representatives. Representatives from 68 nations and the European Union, including U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, will also be present.

Over the past year, 5,507 Hiroshima A-bomb survivors died or their deaths were newly confirmed. During 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. With three more volumes added, the register now contains the names of 292,325 victims in a total of 107 volumes. One volume lists names of Nagasaki A-bomb victims. At 8:15, the time the atomic bomb exploded above the city, all those in attendance will offer a silent prayer while the Peace Bell is rung by Kazuki Kato, 29, a dentist, representing the victims’ families, and Ui Okano, 11, a sixth-grader at Hesaka Elementary School, representing children.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will then read aloud the Peace Declaration. He will introduce the experiences of an A-bomb orphan and three people who were students mobilized to work for the war effort at the time of the bombing. He will stress that, to eliminate the “absolute evil” of nuclear weapons, we must value person-to-person relationships and build a world that allows forward-looking dialogue.

Mr. Matsui will call on U.S. President Barack Obama and all leaders of nuclear-armed nations to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to stop using the inhumane threat of nuclear weapons, and to shift to a new security paradigm. He will also call on the Japanese government to accept the full weight of the fact that Japan has avoided war for 69 years under the noble pacifism of the Japanese Constitution, and to continue as a nation of peace in both word and deed.

In his speech, Mr. Matsui will not mention the government’s approval to exercise the right to collective self-defense, which has been met with strong criticism in Hiroshima. He will not refer to the nation’s energy policy, either, which he incorporated in his past three speeches after the March 2011 nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima Prefecture.

The “Commitment to Peace” will be read by Yuichiro Muta and Reiko Tamura, both 11 and sixth-graders at Onaga Elementary School and Ushita Elementary School, respectively. Prime Minister Abe and Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki will then deliver speeches. Angela Kane, U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, will read a message from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

If it rains, this year’s ceremony will become the second ceremony held in the rain, according to the city. The first ceremony to take place in rainy weather was in 1971. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony originated in 1946 as the Peace Restoration Festival.

(Originally published on August 6, 2014)

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