-A-bomb Day in Hiroshima

Fifty-nine years after that day, the morning of requiem has come around again. At 8:00 a.m. in Peace Memorial Park in Naka-ku, Hiroshima City holds its Peace Memorial Ceremony. Mourning the sacrifice to the flames of the atomic bomb, the A-bombed city is steeped in consoling souls all day long.

The ceremony will begin with Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and two representatives of the bereaved families consecrating to the Memorial Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims the register of the 5,142 names of persons who died during the past year or whose death was confirmed during the year. With the new names, the total register will now contain 237,062 names written in 83 volumes. Following representatives of the bereaved families and hibakusha, Prime Minister Junichi Koizumi; Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono; and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi will offer flowers.

At 8:15, the time the bomb exploded, representatives of bereaved families and children will strike the Peace Bell, signaling the start of a minute of silence. In his Peace Declaration, Mayor Akiba will call next year, the 60th anniversary of the bombing, a "Year of Remembrance and Action" and vow to abolish nuclear weapons and inherit the A-bomb experience.

Then, representing children in the A-bombed city, Kouya Yurino (11) of Kameyamaminami Elementary School in Asakita-ku, and Saki Kawada (11) of Danbara Elementary School Minami-ku will read the Commitment to Peace. Prime Minister Koizumi and Hiroshima Prefecture Governor Yuzan Fujita will greet the assemblage. UN Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs Nobuyasu Abe will read a message from UN Secretary General Kofi Anan. The 45-minute ceremony will close with the Hiroshima Peace Song.

Anticipating extreme heat, the city urged all to wear hats and bring canteens and water bottles. The pamphlets distributed at the venue will contain a square piece of gold-colored paper for people to fold into paper cranes.

Before and after the city's ceremony, other memorial ceremonies will be held in front of each monument of businesses and schools in and outside the park.

(Caption)Fifty-nine years later, lines of people in search of a sense of requiem form in front of the Memorial Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims -August 5, 8:00 p.m. (photo: Yutaka Imada)