69th Peace Memorial Ceremony
－Each one of us will help determine the future of the human family－
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On August 6, 2014, for the 69th time since the atomic bombing, Hiroshima City held the Peace Memorial Ceremony in the city's Peace Memorial Park.
The ceremony was held in rainy conditions for the first time in 43 years.
Approximately 45,000 bereaved families and others attended and prayed for the souls of the deceased and for eternal peace.
The ceremony commenced at 8am.
First, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and two representatives of bereaved families dedicated two volumes of Register of the Names of the Fallen Atomic Bomb Victims to the shrine in the Memorial Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims.
In the two volumes were recorded the names of the 5,507 atomic bomb victims who have passed away over the past year.
This brings the number of those registered to 292,325 people, in a total of 107 volumes.
This was followed by a speech by Mr. Noriaki Usui, Chairperson of the Hiroshima City Council, and a dedication of flowers by various representatives.
At 8:15, the time when the bomb was dropped, Mr. Kaduki Kato, representing the bereaved families, and Ui Okano, a children's representative, rang the Peace Bell, and all participants observed a minute of silence.
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Mayor Matsui then read out the Peace Declaration.
He said "To avoid forgetting that sacred sacrifice and to prevent a repetition of that tragedy, please listen to the voices of the survivors".
Presenting some of the atomic bombing experiences and wishes for peace that he has heard from the survivors, he firmly stated
"To make sure the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki never happen a third time, let's all communicate, think and act together with the hibakusha for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons and without war".
The mayor also called on the world's policy makers to visit the areas that were bombed and see the truth of the bombing for themselves, and to work to build a new security system
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Mayor Matsui making the Peace Declaration
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based on trust and dialogue.
Addressing the national government of Japan, he said that at this time when the security situation is particularly severe, Japan must continue to be a nation of peace both in word and in deed, enhance support measures for hibakusha and others suffering from the effect of radiation, and expand the "black rain areas".
After the Peace Declaration, the children's representatives Yuichiro Muta and Reiko Tamura read out the Commitment to Peace, saying
"We are waiting for all of you here in this city. Let's all talk and share opinions about peace, about the future, Believing that many different thoughts will become a powerful driving force for peace".
In his speech, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that he is directly calling on the heads of the relevant nations to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and ensure its early entry into force.
He also stated that he will work to make further progress on initiatives to realize a "world free of nuclear weapons" leading up to next year, which is the milestone year of the 70th year since the atomic bombing and also the year when the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will be convened.
Representatives of bereaved families from 41 prefectures attended the ceremony, as well as Mr. Hidehiko Yuzaki, the Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture, Ms. Angela Kane, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and ambassadors and representatives from the European Union (EU) and 68 nations, including nuclear states such as America, the United Kingdom, France and Russia.
The ceremony was relayed live on the Internet.
The full texts of the Peace Declaration is available in ten languages (Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) on the Hiroshima City home page>> under "The Atomic Bomb and Peace" >> "Peace Declaration,
Protest Letters, etc". |
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| (General Affairs Division) |
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