The commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be held at free public events on August 5th, 6th and 8th. The 2010 Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration events in Minneapolis and St. Paul will celebrate peacemakers, mourn A-bomb victims, and offer hope that the current century can be more peaceful than the last.
Special guests include student singers from Junshin High School and University in Nagasaki, Japan, who will sing at several of the events. The Intergenerational KAIROS dance troupe will perform to the “ A Thousand Paper Cranes” song sung by the Junshin singers at the Nagasaki Commemoration at the Global Harmony Labyrinth in Como Park, St. Paul, on Sunday, August 8, at 7 p.m.
Former Minneapolis Mayor Don Fraser will speak at the Friday, August 6, 7:30 a.m. Ceremony of the Cranes at Lyndale Park Peace Garden in Minneapolis.Wristbands with names of atomic bomb survivors and peacemakers will be distributed.
All events are free and open to the public. For further information visit www.wilpfmn.org/hn or call 952.922.0308.
Featured Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration events include:
A formal tea ceremony at Lyndale Park Peace Garden in Minneapolis at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 5, begins the commemoration weekend. Preceded by music of the Arden Consort, this thoughtful ceremony occurs at the same time as commemoration events in Hiroshima. The Yukimakai Tea Study group performs the ceremony.
Twenty-five years ago, the original relic stone which marks entrance to the Peace Garden Bridge was presented to the City of Minneapolis. Donald Fraser, who was mayor of Minneapolis when the original relic stone arrived from Hiroshima in 1985, will speak at the Ceremony of the Cranes at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, August 6, at the Lyndale Park Peace Garden.
The grandmother-granddaughter duo of Elaine Wynne and Renee Weeks-Wynne will tell the Sadako story. Wristbands with the names of hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bomb, will note the horrible consequences of the war, and wristbands on which people can write names of peacemakers will be available at all the events to help personalize the legacy of war and peace.
Twenty women from Junshin High School and University in Nagasaki will join Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27, and Women in Black of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom at the 11 a.m. Ceremony of 11 Bells at the Lyndale Park Peace Garden on Friday, August 6. This brief ceremony at the Spirit of Peace sculpture at the Peace Garden reminds us that war cannot end war.
On the evening of Sunday, August 8, at 7 p.m. the Junshin singers and KAIROS dance will perform “A Thousand Paper Cranes” at the Global Harmony Labyrinth in Como Park in St. Paul. The dance was commissioned by the Minneapolis St. Paul Hiroshima Nagasaki Commemoration Committee to music written by a contemporary Nagasaki composer, Michiru Oshima. The eighteen singers, led by their teacher Yuko Matsumoto, will perform several songs in Japanese and English.
Greetings from Nagasaki and the reading of the children’s book, ON THAT SUMMER DAY, will also be shared. Guests will be invited to walk the labyrinth after the ceremony.
The Minneapolis St. Paul Hiroshima Nagasaki Commemoration Committee (MSPHNCC) and the St. Paul Nagasaki Sister City Committee (SPNSCC) are pleased to sponsor these events. The MSPHNCC has offered these events for twenty-five years 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. The SPNSCC, which hosted Mayor Taue of Nagasaki in April, is hosting the Junshin group during their eight day visit to the Twin Cities.
For further information, directions to the sites, and background information, visit www.wilpfmn.org/hn or www.stpaulnagasaki.org or call 952.922.0308.
Thursday, August 5 Commemorative Tea Ceremony
5:30 p.m. Music procession by Arden Consort
6:00 p.m. Commemorative Tea Ceremony
Location: Lyndale Park Peace Garden, Roseway Road, Minneapolis
Roseway Road, Minneapolis
Friday, August 6 Hiroshima Commemoration
7:30 a.m. Ceremony of the Cranes
Don Fraser, keynote speaker.
Sadako story told by Elaine Wynne and Renee Weeks-Wynne.
Location: Lyndale Park Peace Garden, Roseway Road,
Minneapolis
11:00 a.m. Ceremony of the Eleven Bells Features
Veterans for Peace, Women in Black, and the Junshin student singers from Nagasaki
Location: Lyndale Park Peace Garden, Roseway Road, Minneapolis
Sunday, August 8 7:00 p.m. Nagasaki Commemoration Features the Junshin singers from Nagasaki and KAIROS Dance Troupe
Location: Global Harmony Labyrinth, Como Park, St. Paul
