Mark 63rd Anniversary of U.S. Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

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August Atomic Bombing Commemoration to Focus on Children, Future
Music, Dance, Silent Ritual, Tea Ceremony, Storytelling and more will Mark 63rd Anniversary of U.S. Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan


St. Paul, Minnesota, July 21, 2008 °©- The 2008 Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration events in Minneapolis and St. Paul will focus on children and the hope for a future free of atomic weapons. The events commemorate the U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on, respectively, August 6 and 9, 1945. The events span three days - August 5, 6, and 9 - and are open to the public.

On Tuesday, August 5, beginning at 4:30 p.m., Women in Black, a group that promotes non-violent solutions to conflict, will read from children's stories along the Pathway to Peace, concluding at Minneapolis' Lyndale Park Peace Garden on Roseway Road. A Japanese tea ceremony led by Yukimakai Tea study group will follow, corresponding to the time of the commemorative ceremonies taking place in Hiroshima, Japan.

The centerpiece of the 7:30 a.m. August 6th Hiroshima commemoration is the story of Sadako and the 1,000 Cranes told by professional storytellers Larry Johnson and Elaine Wynne and their granddaughter Renee Weeks-Wynne. Chura Ryukyu Sanshin Kai will perform on the three-stringed Okinawan banjo.

Immediately following the morning commemoration, children and others will make origami cranes at the Spirit of Peace sculpture, one of many activities during the all-day peace vigil at Lyndale Park Peace Garden on August 6th.

At 7:30 p.m. on August 6th, the Concert for Peace at Lake Harriet Bandshell will feature Rabbi Sim Glaser and the Social Action Figures. Special guest Kairos Intergenerational Dance Theatre will open with a performance to "A Thousand Paper Cranes," recorded last year by teens from Junshin High School in Nagasaki.

The centerpiece of the August 9th event, which will take place at 10:30 a.m. at the Global Harmony Labyrinth in Como Park in St. Paul, is a reading from the children's picture book, On That Summer Day, which tells the story of the bombing of Nagasaki.

At both the Minneapolis and St. Paul events, the public will take action by writing notes to their mayors in support of a campaign to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2020.

"We need to keep the world safe from nuclear holocaust for our children," said JoAnn Blatchley, coordinator of the all-volunteer committee that organizes the annual commemorations. "War brings negative consequences to innocents, especially when using weapons of mass destruction."

The Hiroshima Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, an all-volunteer group of Twin Cities residents, has sponsored events at the Peace Garden for more than 20 years. The Committee offers these events to the community to encourage reflection on the past and hope for the future through action in the present. It calls for the total abolition of nuclear weapons throughout the world as one measure of ensuring a just and lasting peace.

For further details, up-to-date information, and directions to the sites, visit www.wilpfmn.org/hn or the St. Paul Nagasaki Sister City website: www.stpaulnagasaki.org/events.php.