Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 60 years later

FOR delegation reports on its activities

The Fellowship of Reconciliation's delegation to Japan has returned to the U.S. after visiting four cities during their 10-day trip and delivering to Japanese officials a huge stack of petitions opposing repeal of the Japan Peace Constitution.

More than 5,200 signatures were obtained on the petition, which calls for retention of Article 9 of the Constitution.  Article 9, adopted in 1947, renounces war as a sovereign right of the state and prohibits the maintenance of military forces other than for self-defense.  There currently is an effort under way to repeal part of the Article.

Eight FOR members were on the delegation--from New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Illinois and Texas.  It was led by Ed McManus, chair of the FOR National Council, and Ibrahim Ramey, coordinator of FOR's disarmament program.

The delegates presented the petitions in Tokyo to a representative of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.  A copy of the petitions was presented to Nobuyuki Teshima, director of the City of Hiroshima's International Peace Promotion Department, for delivery to Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba.  And in Nagasaki, the delegation met personally with Mayor Iccho Itoh and gave copies of the petitions to him.

The delegation was accompanied by Reijiro Shito, a member of the International Committee and the Constitution Committee of the Japan FOR, and Yuuichiro Miyake, a constitutional researcher.  The group began its trip in Tokyo and met with members of the Japan FOR at the Friends Meeting House, where they discussed future interactions between the Japan and US branches. 

In Hiroshima, the delegates attended a meeting of the Anti A&H Bombs Conference, visited the Peace Museum, attended the city's Memorial Ceremony on Aug. 6, and met with "hibakusha" (atomic bombing survivors) at the World Friendship Center.  They also helped a group that was passing out Article 9 leaflets to people arriving for the Memorial Ceremony.

In Nagasaki, they attended a Sunday service at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Church, followed by a luncheon at the church, and were guests of the YWCA-YMCA for dinner.  They also visited the Peace Museum and the Urakami Cathedral, restored after the bombing; attended a meeting with hibakusha; and participated in the Nagasaki Memorial Ceremony on Aug. 9.

The trip concluded with two days in Kyoto, including a meeting at the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions at Doshisha University and visits to a shrine, a temple and a palace.

All in all, it was a very successful trip which went a long way toward giving participants an appreciation and understanding of the horrors of nuclear war and a determination to press for nuclear disarmament.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Working for peace since 1914.