Peace Memorial Ceremony Marking 70 Years Since the Atomic Bombing
－Average age of survivors surpassed 80 years this year－
|
On August 6 of the 70th year since the atomic bombing, the Peace Memorial Ceremony organized by the City of Hiroshima was held in the city's Peace Memorial Park.
Around 55,000 people attended the ceremony, including A-bomb survivors and the families of the deceased, and they prayed for the repose of the souls of the victims and for perpetual world peace.
In holding the ceremony this year, the City of Hiroshima organizers paid particular attention to the fact that the A-bomb survivors are aging.
Work had been underway since early this year to improve the stone walkway running through the middle of Peace Memorial Park, and this was the first ceremony where tents were set up for all seats at the ceremony.
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 shrine in the Memorial Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims.
Over the past year, 5,359 people's deaths had been confirmed and their names were recorded in the Register.
This brings the total number of names recorded in the Register to 297,684 people, in 109 volumes.
This was followed by an address by Mr. Masanori Nagata, Chairperson of the Hiroshima City Council, and a dedication of flowers by various representatives.
At 8:15am, the time that the bomb was dropped, Ms. Hiromi Nakagawa, representing the bereaved families, and Yuki Higashikawa, the children's representative, rang the Peace Bell, and all participants observed a minute of silence.
|
Mayor Matsui then read out the Peace Declaration.
In the Declaration, the Mayor spoke of the 140,000 people whose irreplaceable lives had been taken by the one bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima at 8:15am on August 6, 1945 by the end of that year.
He mentioned that among the victims were Koreans, Chinese, South-East Asians and American prisoners of war.
He spoke of the fact that even those who managed to survive suffered serious physical and emotional aftereffects as well as discrimination and prejudice.
The Mayor also pointed out that throughout
|
Mayor Matsui reads the Peace Declaration
|
The Mayor also called for President Obama and other policymakers of the world to visit the regions hit by the atomic bomb, listen directly to what the hibakusha have to say, and see for themselves the reality of the damage from the atomic bombing.
As a bridge between the nuclear and non-nuclear-weapons states, he called on the Japanese government to take the lead in starting discussions on a legal framework, including a nuclear weapons convention, and offer support measures to the aging hibakusha, which should include an extension of the "black rain areas".
Following the Peace Declaration, the children's representatives Yuro Kuwahara and Yuka Hosokawa read out the Commitment to Peace,
where they recalled the experience of losing one of their loved ones in the landslide disaster that occurred in Hiroshima City on August 20, 2014,
and the life that has been passed on to them from their grandparents who have survived in Hiroshima over the past 70 years.
They stated "We, children of Hiroshima, Vow one by one, To connect the truth, The hopes and desires of the hibakusha, And our own desire for peace. From the past and present, To the future."
After this was an address by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
He raised the point that in this landmark year of the 70th year since the atomic bombing, there will be meetings held in Hiroshima, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) Group of Eminent Persons meeting and the 25th United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues, and next year the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
He stated that world leaders and youth from around the world having direct contact with the tragic reality of the atomic bombing will lead to further progress in efforts to realize a nuclear-free world.
Prime Minister Abe also pointed out that now the average age of the hibakusha is over 80 years of age, and said that the government in particular will expedite screening of applications for recognition of atomic bomb disease, in consideration of the feelings of the applicants.
At the ceremony were representatives of bereaved families from 41 prefectures, hibakusha from overseas, representatives of bereaved families from overseas, and Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki,
as well as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Japan Mr. Itsuro Terada, Mr. Lassina Zerbo, Executive-Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), and ambassadors and representatives from the European Union (EU) and a record 100 countries, including the nuclear weapon states of America, United Kingdom, France and Russia.
Youth delegations from Mayors for Peace leader cities and Hiroshima City's sister and friendship cities also attended.
The ceremony was broadcast live on the Internet.
The full text of the Peace Declaration read out at the ceremony is available in 10 languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) on the Hiroshima City homepage>> ⇒ "The Atomic Bombing/Peace" ⇒ "Peace Declaration, Protest Letters, etc.".
|
|
| (General Affairs Division) |
|
|
|
