Twin Cities Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Event

August Atomic Bombing Commemoration to Focus on Children, Future,
Music, Dance, Silent Ritual, Tea Ceremony, Storytelling and more will Mark 63rd Anniversary of U.S. Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

The 2008 Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration events in Minneapolis and St. Paul will focus on children and the hope for a future free of atomic weapons. The events commemorate the U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on, respectively, August 6 and 9, 1945. The events span three days -- August 5, 6, and 9 -- and are open to the public.

On Tuesday, August 5, beginning at 4:30 p.m., Women in Black, a group that promotes non-violent solutions to conflict, will read from children's stories along the Pathway to Peace, concluding at Minneapolis' Lyndale Park Peace Garden on Roseway Road. A Japanese tea ceremony led by Yukimakai Tea study group will follow, corresponding to the time of the commemorative ceremonies taking place in Hiroshima, Japan.

At both the Minneapolis and St. Paul events, the public will take action by writing notes to their mayors in support of a campaign to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2020.

"We need to keep the world safe from nuclear holocaust for our children," said JoAnn Blatchley, coordinator of the all-volunteer committee that organizes the annual commemorations. "War brings negative consequences to innocents, especially when using weapons of mass destruction."

The Hiroshima Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, an all-volunteer group of Twin Cities residents, has sponsored events at the Peace Garden for more than 20 years. The Committee offers these events to the community 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.

For further details, up-to-date information, and directions to the sites, visit www.wilpfmn.org/hn or the St. Paul Nagasaki Sister City website: www.stpaulnagasaki.org/events.php.