The United Nations has established September 21 as a fixed International Day of Peace (IDP) and an annual day of non-violence and cease-fire. In support of this purport, an evenｔ to commemorate the IDP was held in Hiroshima. To pray for the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting world peace, the participants observed a minute of silence at noon putting up the Mayors for Peace banner that read “Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by 2020”and ringing the Peace Bell. *The event was held on September 18th.
1. Date/time:
Friday, September 18, 2015, 11:55 – 12:05
2. Venue:
In front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and the Peace Bell in Peace Memorial Park
(Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City)
3. Participated organizations:
The City of Hiroshima
Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations
Hiroshima Consumers’ Cooperative Union
Hiroshima Jogakuin Senior High School
4. Contents:
- (1)Offering flowers to the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims from representatives of the participants
- (2)Prayers by all participants for the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting world peace by observing one minute of silence at noon for the Cenotaph for the A-bomb and by ringing the Peace Bell
- (3)While observing one minute of silence, representative participants putting up the Mayors for Peace’s banner that read “Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by 2020.”
- (4)Speech by the Chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
5. Others
Mayors for Peace has called for its member cities around the world to commemorate the International Day of Peace, and many cities supported the aim and held an event in each city. The following are some examples of these cities:
[Australia] Bankstown, Fremantle, Melbourne
[Belgium] 138 cities (Ghent, etc.), Leuven, etc.
[Burundi] Bujumbura
[France] Chevilly-Larue (link in French)
[Germany] Mülheim an der Ruhr
[India] Pathanamthitta
[Iran] Behshahr
[Iraq] Halabja
[Japan] Akita, Ibaraki, Ise, Ishigaki, Kawagoe, Mishima, Motosu, Nagasaki, Takarazuka, Takayama, Wakkanai (links in Japanese)
[New Zealand] Wellington
