‘Ban nuclear weapons’

TINIAN—Local residents and Japanese delegates to the commemoration of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the event on Saturday with a moment of silence and emotional pleas to all nations for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

At 9:15am (8:15am in Hiroshima), a crowd of about 50 Japanese and local individuals bowed in prayer and paid tribute to the victims of the atomic bombs that were launched from here and dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 60 years ago.

The silence was broken only by the sirens of police vehicles and fire trucks passing the Gandhi-Ikeda-King Peace Gardens, where the memorial ceremony was being held.

Meanwhile, Keijiro Matsushima, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, chanted softly while clutching a prayer book and a bracelet of Buddhist beads.

Matsushima was only 16 years when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Now 76, he has traveled to numerous speaking engagements worldwide to call for peace and abolition of atomic weapons.

Aside from delivering a speech on behalf of the Hibakusha, Matsushima was also tasked last Saturday to read a message from Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba on the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the bombing.

“Since its experience in the atomic bombing 60 years ago, Hiroshima has continually appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the creation of eternal world peace. Nonetheless, around the world, the cycle of hatred, violence, and retaliation seems unbroken, with massive amounts of nuclear weapons stockpiled amid mounting danger that such a weapon will be used,” said Mayor Akiba, who is currently meeting with more than 1,000 city mayors from around the world on the Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons, which aims to abolish such weapons by 2020.

The Hiroshima mayor also commended Tinian’s invitation of atomic bombing survivors to participate the weeklong commemoration here and provide people opportunities to hear accounts directly from the Hibakusha.

“I hope from my heart that you will join us in sparing no effort to create a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons, hatred, and fear,” Akiba said.

The mayor of Nagasaki, Iccho Itoh, made a similar plea in his message, read by Nagasaki Hibakusha Kiyoshi Nishida.

Mayor Itoh said the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be repeated.

“The people of the island of Tinian and most people in the world know only too well that we couldn’t live together with nuclear weapons. [I]n order to make a strong movement toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, each and every world citizen aspiring for peace…must unite and make a huge force. If we follow through seriously enough, I am convinced, we could achieve the tough goal of the abolition of nuclear weapons,” Itoh said.

Tinian Mayor Francisco Borja himself echoed the calls made by his counterparts from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and declared August “Peace Month” during the ceremony on Saturday morning. (See related story.)

Borja, along with other Tinian government officials, also led the official opening of the newly constructed “Peace Monument” at the Gandhi-Ikeda-King Peace Gardens.