67th Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony
―Determination and Request from Hiroshima to the World to Abolish Nuclear Weapons―
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On August 6 (Mon), for the 67th time since the atomic bomb was dropped, the Peace Memorial
Ceremony organized by Hiroshima City was held in the city's Peace Memorial Park. Approximately
50,000 of the bereaved attended to pray for the repose of the souls of the victims and eternal
peace.
The ceremony started at 8am. First, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two representatives of
the bereaved families dedicated two Registers of the Names of Fallen Atomic Bomb Victims, which
records the names of the 5,729 people who passed away in the past year, to the Cenotaph for the
A-Bomb Victims. This brings the total number of people recorded in the registers to 280,959, with a
total of 102 registers.
This was followed by a speech by the Hiroshima City Council Chairperson Kazuo Tanekiyo, and a
dedication of flowers by each representative. At 8:15am, the time that the bomb was dropped, Yuji
Harato, representing the bereaved families, and Seira Kishimoto, the children's representative, rang
the Peace Bell, and all participants observed one minute of silent prayer.
Mayor Matsui then read out the Peace Declaration, and including some atomic bombing
testimonies that had been sent in by survivors. Stating that he wants to communicate to the world
not only the pain, sadness and suffering of that experience but also a sincere desire for the
abolition of nuclear weapons, he made a plea: "People of the world! Especially leaders of nuclear-armed
nations, please come to Hiroshima to contemplate peace in this A-bombed city".
Reflecting on Hiroshima's recovery period as he spoke of the positive will to live of the survivors of
the Great East Japan Earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 last year and the accompanying
nuclear accident, Mayor Matsui had words of encouragement: "Please hold fast to your hope for
tomorrow". He called on the national government to establish an energy policy that guards the
safety and security of the people.
The mayor ended with a strong declaration －"From our base here in Hiroshima, we pledge to
convey to the world the experience and desire of our hibakusha, and do everything in our power to
achieve the genuine peace of a world without nuclear weapons".
After the Peace Declaration, two children's representatives, Ryuki Miho and Mayu Endo, read out
the Commitment to Peace, saying "We will continue to create peace. We promise we will keep
acting, alongside all those we know".
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda stated in his speech that the Japanese government will support all
kinds of initiatives to pass on the atomic bomb experience. He also said that the government would
work to establish an energy mix in the mid-to-long term that would ensure citizens' peace of mind,
based on the fundamental strategy of moving away from dependence on nuclear power generation.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of bereaved families from 41 prefectures, the
Prime Minister, Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki and ambassadors in Japan from America, UK and
France, as well as representatives of 71 countries and the European Union (EU).
The ceremony was broadcast live on the Internet. From 10:20pm that night, Mayor Matsui made
the Peace Declaration in English against the backdrop of the A-bomb Dome, which was also
broadcast live on the Internet.
The full text of the Peace Declaration read out at the ceremony is available on
the Hiroshima City Homepage>>>.
There are also translations of the Peace Declaration available in eight languages
(Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Korean, Russian and Spanish).
The Peace Declaration can also be found on the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum web site>>>.
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(General Affairs Division)
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