Hirsoshima observes 55th anniversary of bombong

[Norman & Karen Cohen <norco@bellatlantic.net>]

> Source:
> <A HREF="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20000807a1.htm";>
> http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20000807a1.htm</A>
> =========================================================
>
> Hiroshima observes 55th anniversary of bombing
>
> HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) Hiroshima on Sunday commemorated the 55th anniversary of
> its 1945 atomic bombing in a ceremony attended by the Russian ambassador to
> Japan, the first envoy from a full-fledged nuclear power to join the annual
> event.
>
> Young women place floating lanterns in the river at Peace Memorial Park to
> pray for the A-bomb victims.
> After a one-minute silent prayer held under the scorching sun at 8:15 a.m.,
> when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city 55 years ago, Mayor Tadatoshi
> Akiba delivered an annual peace declaration.
>
> "Having called on the world to abolish nuclear weapons, Hiroshima wishes to
> make a new start as a model city demonstrating the use of science and
> technology for human purposes," Akiba said in the city's Peace Memorial Park
> near ground zero.
>
> "We will create a 21st century in which Hiroshima's very existence formulates
> the substance of peace," he said at the final memorial ceremony this century.
>
> "On the international stage, Hiroshima aspires to serve as a mediator
> actively creating reconciliation by helping to resolve conflict and
> animosity," he told some 50,000 attendees, including Prime Minister Yoshiro
> Mori and Russian Ambassador to Japan Alexander Panov.
>
> At the start of the 50-minute ceremony, Akiba and two citizens placed two
> books listing 5,021 people whom the city office has newly recognized as
> victims of the bombing over the past year into a room under the arch-shaped
> cenotaph in the park.
>
> The total number of victims as claimed by the city came to 217,137 as of
> Sunday, including an estimated 140,000 who died as a direct result of the
> bombing by the end of 1945.
>
> Mori said in an address, "(Japan) welcomes the May agreement by a U.N.
> meeting to review the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to promote
> the policy of nuclear disarmament."
>
> In that April-May meeting, the world's nuclear powers agreed for the first
> time to seek an "unequivocal undertaking" to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
>
> "Furthermore, Japan has just issued a peace message from Okinawa after urging
> the leaders of the other Group of Eight powers to reach an agreement to
> promote nucle
>
> ar disarmament and nonproliferation in the July 21-23 summit, based on the
> results of the NPT meeting," Mori said.
>
> Abdallah Baali, who chaired the NPT meeting, was among the dignitaries
> attending the ceremony.
>
> But Akiba did not praise or otherwise highly evaluate the agreement of the
> NPT meeting in the declaration, the 52nd issued since 1947. The city office
> did not issue a declaration in 1950 and 1951, when it was affected by
> political disputes over the 1950-1953 Korean War.
>
> Mori later told reporters, "During the ceremony I renewed my belief that this
> tragedy must not be repeated. Japan is prepared to submit a draft resolution
> to eliminate nuclear weapons to the U.N. General Assembly session in fall."
>
> Mori also said the government will study if it is possible to help overseas
> atomic-bomb survivors, particularly those now residing in North Korea.
>
> After the ceremony, Panov said, "The tragedy in Hiroshima was the worst the
> world has ever seen. I decided to attend today's ceremony since it is the
> last one in the 20th century."
>
> Speaking at a press conference in Hiroshima, Panov said the process to scrap
> nuclear arsenals should be accelerated, adding that Russia is prepared to
> cooperate to reduce the number of strategic nuclear warheads in the world to
> 1,500.
>
> Health and Welfare Minister Yuji Tsushima, whose ministry handles policies
> for rehabilitation of atomic-bomb survivors, also was present, as were House
> of Representatives Speaker Tamisuke Watanuki and House of Councilors
> President Juro Saito.
>
> The city has invited the envoys of the five main nuclear powers -- Britain,
> China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus India and Pakistan to
> attend the ceremony since 1998, when New Delhi and Islamabad conducted a
> series of nuclear tests.
>
> India and Pakistan sent their ambassadors to the ceremony that year, while
> only Pakistan did so in 1999. Russia is the only country among the seven to
> send its ambassador this year.
>
>

Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8537 or 609-601-8583 (8583: fax, answer machine);  norco@bellatlantic.net;  UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE:  http://www.unplugsalem.org/  COALITION FOR PEACE AND
JUSTICE WEBSITE:  http://members.bellatlantic.net/~norco/  ICQ# 54268619; The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
“We have two lives, the one we’re given, and the other one we make” (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
“Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights...Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight!” (Bob Marley)




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