Previous Story
Atomic bombing survivors to recount experience
|
Posted on Jun 13 2005
Tickets have already been printed for this coming August’s Hibakusha Experience, which is an oral retelling of the sufferings of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing survivors.
The Hibakusha Experience would be held on Saipan on Aug. 2, on Tinian on Aug. 4, and on Rota on Aug. 6.
Tinian Municipal Council executive director James Mendiola Jr. is inviting the public to attend the Hibakusha Experience so that they could hear firsthand accounts of survivors of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 60 years ago.
The atomic bombings near the end of World War II marks the first and only time nuclear weapons were used on a civilian population.
Mendiola also happened to design the tickets for the event. He said the ticket design incorporates three different monuments in Hiroshima and Nagasaki—the Children’s Monument in Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Peace Dome, and the Nagasaki Peace Sculpture. The design also makes use of the sunflower, which is the international symbol for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Mendiola said his design shows a yellow sunflower drawn against the blue sky of the Marianas, conveying a sense of peace and hope.
“I also believed that the quote from Emerson was a good fit because of our goal to impart knowledge through this event,” he said.
Tickets for the Hibakusha Experience will be sold for $3 and the proceeds of the event will be distributed among the Nagasaki Peace Museum, Nagasaki Peace Museum, and the Tinian Historical Preservation Fund.
The tickets will be on sale in early July for the August events. There will be 300 tickets available for the Saipan commemoration and 200 tickets will be allotted to Rota and Tinian.
Mendiola said in addition to the “ticketed” speaking engagement, the special event would also feature a 30-poster exhibit that would open a day before each Hibakusha Experience engagement. The exhibit will be free for the general public.
He said residents of the three islands interested in attending the Hibakusha Experience should contact the office of the Tinian Municipal Council for more information, or visit www.tinianoline.com. (Marconi Calindas)
