April 2001
Located in the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park
under the Peace Clock Tower
A gift from the City of The Hague, The
Netherlands
honoring Hiroshima's leadership in peace
studies,
raising citizens awareness of peace and
supporting worldwide disarmament issues.
Dedication Ceremony
Peace
Clock Tower
Peace Memorial Ceremony
Every year on August 6th the City of
Hiroshima holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the souls of those
who were lost due to the atomic bombing as well as pray for the realization
of everlasting world peace. This ceremony, which is attended by many
citizens, including those who lost family members in the bombing, is held in
front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims (Monument for Hiroshima, City
of Peace). The Peace Declaration, which is delivered by the Mayor of
Hiroshima during the ceremony, is sent to every country in the world thus
conveying Hiroshima's wish for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the
realization of eternal world peace. At exactly 8:15 a.m., the time the
atomic bomb was dropped, the Peace Bell is rung, sirens sound all over the
city and for one minute people at the ceremony grounds, in households and in
workplaces pay silent tribute to the victims of the atomic bombing and pray
for the realization of everlasting world peace.
http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/shimin/shikiten/shikiten-e.html
(August 6, 2001)
On the first August sixth of the new
century, we, the citizens of Hiroshima, living witnesses to "the century of
war," hereby declare that we will do everything in our power to make the
twenty-first century one of peace and humanity, free from nuclear weapons.
We believe that humanity means our
willingness to listen to the voices of all sentient beings. Humanity also
means nurturing children with loving care. It means valuing reconciliation
in creating the human family's common future. It means rejecting violence
and reaching peaceful agreements through the power of reason and conscience.
Only humanity can assure the abolition of nuclear weapons; only humanity can
ensure that nuclear weapons, once eliminated, are never re-invented.
In the twenty-first century, Hiroshima
intends to soar to new heights as a city of humanity. We intend to create a
spiritual home for all people, a home with compassion, a source of
creativity and energy for our planet's children and youth, a city offering a
personal place of rest and comfort for all, young or old, male and female.
However, the calendar end to "the century
of war" has not automatically ushered in a century of peace and humanity.
Our world is still darkened not only by the direct violence of local
conflicts and civil wars, but also by innumerable other forms of violence
including environmental destruction, violence-promoting publications,
images, and games. Now, through advanced science and technology, some are
trying to extend battlefields into space.
We need our world leaders first to look at
this reality humbly and unflinchingly. They must also possess a strong will
to eliminate nuclear weapons, sincerity in abiding by their agreements,
which are crystallizations of human wisdom, and finally, the courage
required to make reconciliation and humanity top priorities.
Many hibakusha and their kindred spirits,
feeling called upon to shoulder the fate of the entire human race, have
sought the abolition of nuclear weapons and world peace with a will strong
enough to cut through solid rock. For hibakusha, the living hell suffered
fifty-six years ago remains vivid and present even today. Thus,
communicating in living form to coming generations the hibakusha's memories,
their sense of responsibility, and their unrelenting will is the most
dependable first step toward survival through the twenty-first century and
on to the twenty-second century, connected by a bridge of hope.
To that end, the City of Hiroshima is
investing in the revitalization of peace education, in the broadest sense of
that term. We are striving, in particular, to establish Hiroshima-Nagasaki
peace study courses in major universities around the world. The basic
framework for such courses will be constructed from the accomplishments of
the Hiroshima Peace Institute and similar institutions where academic
endeavour based on unalterable fact have brought humankind closer to truth.
This week, the citizens of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki are hosting the World Conference of Mayors for Peace through
Inter-city Solidarity. The conference has been organized for the expressed
purpose of abolishing nuclear weapons and realizing world peace through
truth-guided solidarity among cities, the entities that will carry most
prominently the torch of humanity in the twenty-first century. It is no mere
fantasy to believe that in the future, member cities of this conference will
lead other municipalities in expanding the circle of nuclear-free
authorities until ultimately the entire Earth becomes one solid nuclear free
zone.
Hiroshima calls on the national government
of Japan to play an active role as a mediator in Asia in creating
nuclear-free zones and implementing confidence-building measures. We further
expect that, as a matter of national policy, Japan will initiate an effort
to conclude a global treaty that prohibits nuclear weapons forever. We
demand that our government properly value the contributions made by
hibakusha, wherever they may live, which should culminate in improved relief
measures that respect their rights. Finally, we demand that our national
government forge the will to abolish nuclear weapons and, in accordance with
the preamble of our constitution, work with Hiroshima in the effort to
create a century of peace and humanity.
On this first August sixth of the
twenty-first century, it is by vowing to spread the peace of this moment
through the entire twenty-first century and throughout the world that we pay
our sincerest respects to the souls of all the atomic bomb victims.
Tadatoshi Akiba Mayor The City of Hiroshima
