Japan Offers Peace Prayers

A bell tolled mournfully and hundreds of white doves were released here Monday to mark the moment 56 years ago when the city of Hiroshima was reduced to ashes by the world’s first atomic bomb attack.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for the annual remembrance and observed 60 seconds of silent prayer at 8:15 a.m.--the moment that the United States dropped the bomb on Aug. 6, 1945. City officials and police estimated the crowd at Peace Memorial Park at 30,000 to 50,000.

Attendees bowed their heads in prayer, recognizing the 140,000 who perished in 1945. Paper cranes symbolizing peace were draped around the park, and incense burned on prayer altars. Many people shed tears as they recalled the atomic inferno that destroyed the city instantly.

Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba made a plea for disarmament, urging that the memory of Hiroshima not be forgotten.

“Passing on to younger generations the memories and the will of those who suffered the bombing is the most important step for humankind . . . in the 21st century,” he said. “That is the surest way to bridge a rainbow to the 22nd century.”

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who also attended, vowed to redouble efforts to win a worldwide ban on testing nuclear weapons.

“As the only country that has experienced a nuclear attack . . . we have appealed to the global community to eradicate nuclear weapons and build a lasting peace,” he said.

But as the generation that experienced nuclear warfare firsthand grows older--the average age of blast survivors is now over 70--many in Japan worry that the terrors will be forgotten.

A recent survey by the city of Hiroshima showed that 64.8% of elementary school children did not know the exact date and time of the city’s bombing, up 20.5 percentage points from five years ago.

“One day there won’t be anybody left who can describe what it was really like,” the Asahi newspaper said in an editorial. “How are we to preserve our memory of the tragedy, to carry it into the future?”

On Thursday, ceremonies will be held to mark the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, in which 70,000 people were killed.

On Aug. 14, 1945, Japan agreed to surrender, ending World War II.