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73rd Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony
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On August 6, 2018, the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing, the Peace Memorial Ceremony organized by the City of Hiroshima was held in the Peace Memorial Park.
Approximately 50,000 people attended the ceremony, including A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) and bereaved families, and prayed for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives, and for eternal peace.
The ceremony started at 8am.
First Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two representatives of the bereaved families dedicated two volumes of the Register of the Names of the Fallen Atomic Bomb Victims to the vault in the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims.
In the two volumes were inscribed the names of the 5,393 people who passed away over the past year.
This brings the total number of the fallen recorded in the Register to 314,118 people, their names recorded in a total of 115 volumes.
This was followed by an address by Masanori Nagata, President of the Hiroshima City Council, and the dedication of flowers by the representatives of various organizations.
At 8:15am, the time that the bomb was dropped, the bereaved families' representative Kenta Uetao and children's representative Aoi Morishita rang the Peace Bell, and all participants observed a minute of silent prayer.
Mayor Matsui then read out the Peace Declaration.
In the Declaration, he said
"Please listen to what I say next as if you and your loved ones were there."
He then described the horror inflicted by the atomic bomb that exploded in the sky above Hiroshima at 8:15am, August 6, 1945, basing his description on the testimony of A-bomb survivors.
The mayor also read out the appeals of two hibakusha who were twenty years old when the bomb was dropped.
They appealed to policymakers to use their reason and insight to work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, and said that efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons must be continued based on the rational actions of the leaders of nations around the world.
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The mayor also stated that the concepts of nuclear deterrence and the nuclear umbrella flaunt the destructive power of nuclear weapons, and try to maintain the world order by instilling fear in rival nations.
He said that in terms of guaranteeing long-term global security, such an approach is extremely unstable and dangerous.
He urged world leaders to execute nuclear disarmament in good faith, which is an obligation under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and to pursue initiatives to make the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons a stepping stone to a world free of nuclear weapons.
Mayor Matsui also urged the Japanese
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Mayor Matsui reading out the Peace Declaration
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government to play its role to lead the global community towards the achievement of a world free of nuclear weapons through dialogue and cooperation.
He also asked that the government expand the black rain areas in addition to enhancing support for the many people suffering both physically and emotionally from the effects of radiation, including the hibakusha, whose average age is now over 82.
After the Peace Declaration, the children's representatives Miori Shinkai and Yuhi Yonehiro read out the Commitment to Peace, saying that they have learned while listening to the testimonies of the hibakusha, viewing the artifacts from the bombing and touring the monuments in the Peace Memorial Park, and with a strong desire for peace
"We fold our desire into paper cranes and give them to the world. Learning what happened 73 years ago and how the hibakusha feel, what we learn and feel in our hearts we'll pass on."
This was followed by speeches, including a speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who pointed out that
"In recent years, differences in the approaches of various countries on nuclear disarmament have become evident."
He said that to truly create a world free of nuclear weapons, we must start from an accurate understanding of the truth of the horror of the atomic bombing, and obtain the cooperation of both nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states.
He stated that the Japanese government would work tenaciously as a mediator between the two and lead the initiatives of the global community.
He said that as a concrete initiative, Japan will make proactive contributions to ensure that the Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT to be held in 2020, the 50th anniversary of the NPT going into force, will be a meaningful conference.
He said that Japan would also promote initiatives where young people hand down stories of the A-bomb experiences of the hibakusha.
Following on from last year, at this year's ceremony a message from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was read out in Japanese by Izumi Nakamitsu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
The Secretary-General said in his message that although there has been increased momentum over the past few decades toward the common objective of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, progress has stalled at the current point in time.
Under such circumstances, the fact that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted last year showed that there is strong, sound international support for a permanent end to the threat posed by nuclear weapons, and that there is frustration at the slow pace of achieving that goal.
He also urged world leaders to return to the common path toward the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and the creation of a world that is safe and secure for all people, based on an awareness of the importance of dialogue and diplomacy.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of bereaved families from 40 prefectures in Japan, as well as ambassadors and representatives from 85 countries and the European Union (EU), including the nuclear weapon states of America, England, France and Russia.
A video of the ceremony was broadcast live on the Internet.
The video may be viewed on the Hiroshima City's YouTube channel: "ThecityofHiroshima".
The full text of the Peace Declaration read out at the ceremony can be found on the City of Hiroshima homepage in The Atomic Bombing/Peace → Peace Declaration, Protest Letters, etc.
The Peace Declaration has been translated into nine languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish) and the foreign-language versions can also be found on the site.
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| (General Affairs Division) |
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