I posted details about this bonsho Japanese Zen Buddhist temple bell two years ago, when I first discovered it in a Jerusalem park.
Today, the 6th of August, 65 years since the fateful day in Hiroshima, I think of the bell again. Living in the shadow of Ahmadinejad's threats of nuclear destruction of Israel, I feel a strange new bond with the folks who once lived in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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Anyway, here is the positive news from today's Jerusalem Post:
"US, nuclear powers join Hiroshima memorial
By ASSOCIATED PRESS 08/06/2010 07:12
The site of the world's worst atomic bomb attack echoed with choirs of schoolchildren and the solemn ringing of bells Friday as Hiroshima marked its biggest memorial yet and the first to be attended by the U.S. and other major nuclear powers.
The site of the world's worst atomic bomb attack echoed with choirs of schoolchildren and the solemn ringing of bells Friday as Hiroshima marked its biggest memorial yet and the first to be attended by the U.S. and other major nuclear powers.
Washington's decision to send U.S. Ambassador John Roos to the 65th anniversary of the bombing was seen by many as potentially paving the way for President Barack Obama to visit Hiroshima — which would be unprecedented for a sitting U.S. leader.
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Along with the U.S., Britain and France also made their first official appearance at the memorial, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Altogether, 74 nations were represented.
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Roos said the memorial was a chance to show resolve toward nuclear disarmament: "For the sake of future generations, we must continue to work together to realize a world without nuclear weapons," he said in a statement.
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About 140,000 people were killed or died within months when the American B-29 "Enola Gay" bombed Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Three days later, about 80,000 people died after the United States attacked Nagasaki.
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According to Japan's Kyodo news agency, the average age of the survivors is over 76 years, and the number of certified survivors has fallen to 227,565 from a peak of 370,000."
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May the horrors of World War II never repeat themselves.
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UPDATE: I discovered some interesting facts and ideas, new to me, about the Hiroshima bombing at http://ww2history.com/key_moments/Pacific/Nuclear_bomb_on_Hiroshima.
Apparently some Japanese were/are thankful for the atomic bomb because it saved Japan from being invaded by the USSR and the USA, who might then have shared/split Japan into two like East and West Germany, North and South Korea.
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UPDATE: I discovered some interesting facts and ideas, new to me, about the Hiroshima bombing at http://ww2history.com/key_moments/Pacific/Nuclear_bomb_on_Hiroshima.
Apparently some Japanese were/are thankful for the atomic bomb because it saved Japan from being invaded by the USSR and the USA, who might then have shared/split Japan into two like East and West Germany, North and South Korea.
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I read recently that a guy survived both explosions, unwisely fleeing to Nagasaki after the bomb on Hiroshima.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
ReplyDeleteI am proud of the U.S. for finally having the courage to send a representative. And I pray that Israel never experiences anything like it.
I share your sentiments but the evil in men's hearts is still there.
ReplyDeleteGood post.Hopefully what happened there will never happen anymore,nowhere...
ReplyDeleteWonderful tribute, Dina! I wish I was absolutely sure this will never happen again!...
ReplyDeleteThat is just the scariest thing to live with... the thought that there are crazy rulers out there who would somehow determine that it's a good thing to kill so many people. Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a sad time in history but smaller bombs dropped nightly in cities also did as much if not more horror. We have got to stop this madness.
ReplyDelete