54 Monuments Related to Hiroshima
But Not In Hiroshima (Japan)

Right click image to enlarge.

June 8, 1954 - Japanese Peace Bell, West Court Garden, Secretariat Building, United Nations (UN), New York City, New York (USA). Cast (including coins & metal from about 60 UN member countries) by Chiyoji Nakagawa [1905-1972] on October 24, 1952, at "the Tada Factory" (Japan). Gift to the UN from the UN Assn. of Japan. Foundation of bell pavilion contains soil from Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Click here for Wikipedia article. Entry #756 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). Click here for Japanese website about the bell.

September 11, 1955 - Statue of Shinran Shonin, 331 Riverside Drive, New York City, New York (USA). Shinran [1173-1263] is founder of the Jodo Shinshu (Pure Land) school of Buddhism. This statue was in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Presented to the USA by Seiichi Hirose of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, as "a testimonial to the atomic bomb devastation and a symbol of lasting hope for world peace."

June 15, 1959 - Hiroshima/Honolulu Sister City Relationship, Honolulu, Hawaii (USA). Hiroshima & Honolulu are each other's first sister cities. "Between 1885 and 1894, approximately 30,000 people arrived in Hawaii from Japan, primarily to work in the sugar industry. An estimated one-third of these émigrés came from Hiroshima... The sister city relationship grew from the 'People to People Program' established by President Eisenhower in the 1950s to promote peace and mutual understanding between citizens in various countries."

December 21, 1965 - Trinity Site Monument, White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) -- former Alamogordo Bombing Range, US Army, Alamagordo, New Mexico (USA), where the first atomic explosion took place on July 16, 1945. National Historic Landmark (NHL). Open to public two days a year (as shown in image). Click here to see the plaques on the stone monument.

1966 - Pacem in Terris, 96 Covered Bridge Road, Warwick, New York (USA). Sculptures & sculpture garden created by Dutch-born Dr. Frederick Franck [1909-2006]. Dedicated to Dr. Albert Schweitzer (with whom Dr. Franck practiced dentistry in Gabon 1958-1961), Pope John XXIII (whom he sketched during the Second Vatican Council), and the Buddhist sage Daisetz T. Suzuki (who "taught me to think"). Images show entrance sculpture, St. Francis sculpture, Seven Generations, & Hiroshima--The Unkillable Human. See Harrisburg, PA (USA).

1990 - Peace Garden, Riverfront Park, Susquehana River, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (USA). Placed by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), an affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) which received the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. "Three statues by Dutch-born Dr. Frederick Franck [1909-2006] are especially notable: Hiroshima--The Unkillable Human, Death and Transfiguration, and Seven Generations (shown in image)." Entry #866 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). See Pacem in Terris in Warwick, NY (USA).

1967 - Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels, 1401 Shimoarako, Higashi Matuyama, Saitama Prefecture (Japan). Preserves 14 of the 15 panels painted by Iri & Toshi Maruki between 1950 & 1982 to show the atomic boming of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. Museum includes paintings of Auschwitz, Minamata & Nanking. Click here for Wikipedia article.

August 6, 1969 - Hiroshima Peace Tree, Wellington Peace Heritage Walk, Wellington (New Zealand). "Commemorates the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and the hope that nuclear weapons are never used again."

1975 - American Museum of Science & Energy (AMSE), 300 South Tulane Avenue, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA). Still called the American Museum of Atomic Energy (AMAE) when building occupied in 1975 but acquired present name in 1978. Owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Image shows life-size model of the Little Boy bomb which destroyed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

1976 - Yamaki Bonsai, National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, National Arboretum, Washington, DC (USA). "Japanese white pine (Pinus parvifolia). Donated as a sign of friendship from Japan. Represents peace between Japan & the USA... Donated by bonsai master Masaru Yamaki. Part of a 53-specimen gift to the USA for its 1976 bicentennial. Little was known about the tree until March 8, 2001, when - with no advance notice - two brothers visiting from Japan showed up at the museum to check on their grandfather’s tree... One of the things that makes it so special is [that] somebody has attended to that tree every day since 1625... When the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, Yamaki and his family were inside their home less than 2 miles away from the explosion. The devastating event killed around 140,000 people, but Yamaki and his family survived largely unhurt, with only some minor injuries from flying glass fragments. Sitting just outside of their house, in a walled nursery, the bonsai tree stood, unharmed."

1982 - K-25 Overlook, East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), Tennessee highway 58, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA). One of two overlooks built for the Knoxville World's Fair. Unmanned but updated, the overlook now has static displays and a video presentation by K-25 veteran Bill Wilcox. The K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP) helped enrich the uranium for the Hiroshima bomb. This image (from the other side of K-25) is nearly identical to the only photo of Oak Ridge on display in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

October 1984 - Peace Garden, Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Created for Toronto's sesquicentennial. "Measures 60 square metres and consists of a small sculptured structure, an eternal flame, a pool and stone platforms and wall. In September 1984, His Holiness Pope John Paul II lit the Eternal Flame of Peace using a torch ignited at the Hiroshima Peace Shrine, and poured water into the pool that was taken from the river that flows through Nagasaki. The Peace Garden was formally dedicated a month later by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II." Entry #1330 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1985 - "Three Minutes to Midnight," Seminole Avenue, Little Five Points, Atlanta, Georgia (USA). Mural by David Fichter of Cambridge MA. "Painted as part of a cultural festival for nuclear disarmament called 'Three Minutes to Midnight' which organized several events around the city in October 1984." Second image shows portion of the mural depicting Leó Szilárd & 70 other atomic scientists petitioning for a demonstration of the atomic bomb before using it on human beings, US officials playing deaf and dumb, and three weeping "Hiroshima maidens".

1985 - Friedensglocke / Peace Bell, in ruins of Aegidienkirche church, Mitte Quarter, Hannover (Germany). Replica of Hiroshima Peace Bell (qv). Donated by Hannover's partner city Hiroshima (Japan). "Struck at the memorial service for the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 every year." [Google translation].

1985 - Hiroshima Peace Bell, Izumo Taisha Mission, North Kukui Street, Honolulu, Hawaii (USA). Said to be a replica of the Hiroshima Peace Bell. Hiroshima & Honolulu are sister cities.

1985 - Peace Bell, Fort William (Scotland). "Celebrates the bond of friendship between Dudley (England), Hiroshima (Japan) & Fort William (Scotland). Also commemorates the [1945] international peace cairn [qv] on the summit of Ben Nevis. One of the main forces behind this was Bert Bissell, M.B.E. [1902-1998], from Dudley in the West Midlands. The inscription reads 'May we all work together for peace and goodwill and live together as one great family.' The bell came from the old town hall, and the granite plinth came from parts of the old fort at Fort William." /// See 1945 Peace Cairn on Ben Nevis (Scotland) & 1972 Peace Cairn in Hiroshima (Japan).

August 6, 1985 - Plaque for Hiroshima & Nagasaki, People's History Museum (canal side of the building), Manchester (England). Lower plaque added by mayor of Nagasaki in 2010 (as seen in image). Information & image courtesy of Peter van den Dungen 28Apr14.

1985? - Hiroshima & Nagasaki Peace Memorial flower bed 1945-1985, Memorial Gardens behind St. Georges Hall, William Brown Street, Liverpool (England).

August 6, 1985 - The Peace Gardens, Sheffield (England). Laid out in 1938 & formally called St. Paul's Gardens. Officially renamed "Peace Gardens" on Hiroshima Day 1985. Rededicated on December 9, 1998. " Overlooking the city’s gothic town hall, the garden is bounded by several cascades & occupies an area of 0.67 hectares. The Goodwin Fountain with over 80 jets of water is dedicated to Sir Stuart Goodwin, the founder of an important Sheffield steel & toolmaking firm." Click here for the Wikipedia article.

M O N U M E N T August 6, 1985 - Victims of War Monument, Provincial Legislative Building, Southwest Grounds, Assiniboine Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). "Granite boulder. In honour of the victims of war, this commeorative cairn marks the 40th anniversary of the Hiroshima nuclear bombing. The plaque & adjacent peace garden represent the need & desire for peace among all people." Entry #1261 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1986 - "Wave of Peace" by McRay Magleby. "Magleby now teaches graphic design at the University of Utah & manages his own studio, Magleby & Company, at his home in Provo, Utah. He won the 1986 'World’s Most Memorable Poster,' the Oscar for poster art, for his poster titled 'Wave of Peace,'ť which commemorates the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. It’s prompted a ton of plaigarism, obviously, from its pure symbolic beauty."

June 1, 1990 - 509th Composite Group Monument, in parking lot of West Wendover Visitor Center, West Wendover, Nevada (USA), where the B-29 crews trained before being deployed to Tinian Island for the missions which bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wendover and West Wendover are on the border between Utah and Nevada. Dedicated by retired General Paul Tibbets [1915-2007], former commander of the 509th Composite Group and pilot of the B-29 "Enola Gay" on August 6, 1945.

August 6, 1990 - Sadako Peace Park, Seattle, Washington (USA). Initiative of conscientious objector Floyd W. Schmoe [1895-2001] who rebuilt homes in Hiroshima (Japan). Inscription: "Sadako Sasaki, Peace Child. She gave us the paper crane to symbolize our yearning for peace in the world. A gift to the people of Seattle from Fratelli's Ice Cream. Daryl Smith - Sculptor. 1990." Vandalized in December 2005 but repaired. Image shows hibakusha Ken Nakano of Kirkland, Washington. Entry #1063 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

August 1990 - Association for the Flame of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Ueno Toshogu Shrine, Ueno Koen / Ueno Park, Tokyo (Japan). "We hereby pledge to keep burning the A-bomb flame[s from Hiroshima & Nagasaki], convinced that this monument should contribute to strengthening the worldwide people’s movement to abolish nuclear weapons & achieve peace, which is the most urgent task for the people across the borders." Visited by EWL 10/08.

Date? - Shrine of the flame from Nagasaki & Hiroshima, Shiba Park, Minato Ward, Tokyo (Japan). Near Tokyo Tower. "One highlight of Shiba Park is the shrine of the flame from Nagasaki & Hiroshima. The fire was lighted in one of the important activities in Nagasaki or Hiroshima many years ago, & that flame was not turned off but instead, shared & passed on to different places. It even reached New York. I have to ask Takasan to tell me the story about this eternal flame again." /// Initial info & upper image courtesy of Michio Hamaji 10Feb2015.

1994 - Peace Flame, Wellington Botanic Garden, Wellington (New Zealand). Stone lantern "holds a flame ignited by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Presented by the Japanese people to New Zealand in honour of this country's unilateral steps to halt the spread of atomic weapons through its Anti-Nuclear Act."

On May, 8 1995 - Gingko Boom / Gingko Tree, Kriegsgräberstätte / Germany War Cemetery, Timmermannsweg 75,Ysselsteyn, Province of Limburg (Netherlands). "A so-called Gingko tree was planted at the entrance area of the graveyard on the occasion of the 50th remembrance of the end of World War II. This was a signal against war & violence. This kind of tree was the first that begun to blossom again after the dropping of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima & Nagasaki in 1945. That way it became a symbol of hope - hope for peace in a better world... Close to the German border, this is the only German military cemetery in the whole Netherlands. 85 killed soldiers from the First World War & almost 32.000 from the Second World War are buried here on a territory of 28 hectares. For each killed soldier one cross has been placed. The data (name, grave location, dates of birth and death, rank - if known) have been written on the crosses with white color. There are approximately 5000 unknown soldiers buried on this cemetery. These are buried in graves with crosses on which it reads "Ein Deutscher Soldat". Information courtest of Peter van den Dungen 18Nov2014.

1995 - B-29 Bomber "Enola Gay" (temporary exhibit), Air & Space Museum (NASM), Smithsonian Institution, The Mall, Washington, DC (USA). Parts of the plane that bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Scaled down version of the exhibition ("The Crossroads: The End of World War II, the Atomic Bomb and the Cold War") which the museum planned for the 50th anniversary of Hiroshma. The exhibit closed on May 18, 1998. Visited by EWL.

December 6, 1995 - "Colateral Damage: A Reality of War," downtown, Santa Cruz, California (USA). Created by metal artist E.A. Chase. "Bronze humanoid figures peer & wail skyward, clutching each other as they appear to melt, perhaps the effect of napalm, an atomic burst, or some other horror." Honors civilians killed in wartime. “Designed in 1959 as a gift for the United Nations, the controversial nature of the piece led to a definitive communication from the State Department that it was ‘inappropriate.’ Finally, decades later in 1995, the statue was instead dedicated in the City of Santa Cruz, now to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. It is inscribed: 'Collateral Damage: a reality of war by E.A. Chase. In memory of civilians who have died in all wars and in appreciation of all who actively “wage peace.” It is dedicated by Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bill Motto Post 5888; The Resource Center for Nonviolence; The City of Santa Cruz; and, finally, by the sculptor himself: longtime local E.A. Chase, who donated the statue in full knowledge that it would never be placed in New York’s U.N. Plaza.' “The historic erection of this statue in Santa Cruz Public Space was preceded by a gun turn-in & a Tibetan singing bowl ringing. Thereafter, the guns & the bowl were buried beneath. The dedication was followed by a memorable concert attended by 12,000 people. The commemorative video for the dedication of the Statue is entitled, "Collateral Damage: A time for community response.” It captures the essence of the historic moment, as well as the stars who graced the stage that day, including David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Bonny Raitt." Information courtesy of Stephen Zunes 19Oct2013. Entry #155 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

May 3, 1996 - International Friendship Bell, Bissell Park, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA). Represents 50th anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge. Paid for in part by contributons by the people of sister city Naka-Machi (Japan). Only inscriptions on the bell are PEACE, INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP, and the dates of Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and VJ Day. Bell cast by Sotetsu Iwasawa, Iwasawa no Bonsho Co., Ltd., Kyoto (Japan). Pavilion designed by University of Tennessee architecture professor Jon Coddington. Lower left image shows Hiroshima Boys Choir singing at the bell on March 30, 2006. Lower right image shows deliberate destruction of rotten bell pavillion on July 28, 2014. Click here to read history of this bell. Click here to see pictorial history. Click here to hear this bell on website of Ray Adams. UR by Herman Postma. LL image by EWL. LR image by Knoxville News Sentinel.

May 19, 1998 - La Cloche de la Paix / Peace Bell, Japanese Garden, Montreal Botanical Gardens, 4101 Sherbrooke Street East, Montreal, Quebec (Canada). "Created from an original design by Masahiko Katori [1899-1988], modelled on the Hiroshima bell." Presented by the Hon. Takashi Hiraoka, Mayor of Hiroshima, after signing a sister city agreement between the two cities. Entry #1357 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1998 - Hiroshima Stone, Wellington (New Zealand). "A stone from the former Hiroshima Town Hall & a gift from the city of Hiroshima. Commemorates the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and the hope that nuclear weapons are never used again."

Date? - Stones from Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Peace Garden (qv), Lyndale Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). Granite peace stones found near Ground Zero of the 1945 atomic bomb blasts. The Hiroshima stone was part of a bridge balustrade, and the Nagasaki stone was once part of a sidewalk. Minneapolis is the only city in the US that has received such gifts from the citizens of both Japanese cities. Entry #523 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

August 6, 1999 - No More Hiroshima : No More Nagasaki : Peace Museum, Indian Institute for Peace, Disarmament & Enironmental Protection (IIPDEP), 537 Sakkardara Road, Nagpur, Maharashtra (India). Museum & institute director, Dr. Balkrishna Kurvey, made presentation at 7th International Conference of Mueums for Peace, Kyoto (Japan), October 8, 2008.

2002 - Hiroshima Flame Monument, Hoshino, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu Island (Japan). "Image shows Takudou Yamamoto displaying a flame that has been burning continuously since the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and was brought to the western Japanese village of Hoshino by his father Tatsuo, who kept it personally for more than two decades."

January-May 2002 - Hiroshima Flame Interfaith Peace Walk. From Seattle, Washington, via Oak Ridge, Tennessee (shown in image), to the United Nations in New York, New York (USA).

August 6, 2002 - World Peace Park, Lüshun (former Port Arthur), ShunKou District (China). Deliberately dedicated on Hiroshima Day? "The park locates in the seaside. The park features bronze statues of Presidents and leaders of 96 nations. On each of their glass plaques is carved a peace poem. Also on display are some works of art dealing with peace as well as a 'War & Peace' stamp collection." (All information from "Official Tour Wed Site of Dalian Lv ShunKou District.")

June 20-October 2003 - Topiary Hiroshima Peace Bell, Mosaicultures Internationales / Mosaiculture International (3rd annual), Old Port, Montréal, Quebec (Canada). Temporary monument made of living plants.

October 19, 2003 - Mayors for Peace Monument & Tree, Park Square, Leeds (England). "Commemorates the 23 million people killed in conflicts since 1945." Planted by Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima & Mayor Iccho Itoh of Nagasaki. (Itoh was assassinated in Nagasaki on April 17, 2007.)

December 15, 2003 - B-29 Bomber "Enola Gay" (permanent exhibit), Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Annex, National Air & Space Museum (NASM), Smithsonian Institution, Dulles Airport, Chantilly, Virginia (USA). The plane which bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Dedication preceeded on Dec. 13 by a conference organized by Prof. Peter J. Kuznick at American University ("Hiroshima in the 21th Century: Will We Repeat the Past?") and a protest Dec. 14 at NY Avenue Presbyterian Chruch. Image shows peace activists -- including hibakusha from Japan -- protesting the exhibit on opening day. Photo by EWL.

July 2004 - Atomic Bomb Pits No. 1 & No. 2, Former North Field (now abandoned), Tinian Island (Northern Mariana Islands), where the atomic bombs were loaded on the B-29's Enola Gay and Bock's Car were loaded for their flights to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two pits were filled in for safety and marked with wooden signs until reopened and covered in glass in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the Battles of Saipan and Tinian.

May 4, 2005 - Peace Garden, York St. John University (YSJ), Lord Mayor's Walk, York (England). "The Japanese-style Peace Garden is a special haven & contains the 'Hiroshima' tree. The entrance gate is next to Chaplaincy." "Contains the Hiroshima Peace Tree which was grown from the seed of a tree which survived the Hiroshima bombing." One of 13 sites on the MAW Peace Map of the British Isles as of January 2009. /// Left image shows Yukari Ino & Aya Tarutani with origami peace cranes in the Peace Garden." Right image shows the Hiroshima Tree in 2015. It was obtained in 2005 by Hisashi Nakamura (expert on Japanese constitution). He also changed the name of the garden from Chapel Garden to Peace Garden against the strong protest from some Christians at YSJ.

P A R K

2005 - Parc Hibakusha, Université de Mons-Hainaut, Plaine de Nimy Chaussée de Bruxelles, Mons (Belgium). Text of sign: "In memory of the victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and nuclear tests." Park created by botanist Pierre Piérart [19___-2010], member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear Weapons (IPPNW). Park contains a stone for each nuclear weapons test. Information courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.

July 7, 2006 - first Mayors for Peace peace pillar, Ypres (Belgium). Marked the opening of the international 2020 Vision campaign secretariat in the Ypres City Hall. Inaugurated by the mayors of Hiroshima and Ypres.

August 6, 2006 - "Peace is a promise of future," Narvik (Norway). Sculpture of a sleeping child by Hĺkon Anton Fagerĺs. Design incorporates on a separate pedestal a rock from Hiroshima's ground zero given earlier to Narik by the mayor of Hiroshima. One of three peace sculptures in Narvik. Dedicated in 1956, 1995 and 2006. Narvik is known as a city of peace.

August 6, 2006 - Hiroshima Flame Returns to Trinity, White Sands Missile Range, Alamagordo, New Mexico (USA). Monks carried the flame from California to the site of the first atomic explosion and then extinguished it.

August 6, 2008 - "Stories of Hope," permanent exhibit at Peace Resource Center (PRC), Wilmington College of Ohio, Wilmington, Ohio (USA). Highlights four stories: PRC founder Barbara Leonard Reynolds [1915-1990], Sadako Sasaki [1943-1955], the Hiroshima Maidens, and Dr. Takashi Nagai [1908-1951], the first published writer of the A-Bomb experience. The PRC has "the world's largest collection (outside of Japan) of reference materials related to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Entry #820 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). One of 27 US museums in "Museums for Peace Worldwide" edited by Kazuyo Yamane (2008).

August 9, 2008 - Ventura Peace Garden, Ventura, California (USA). "Dedicated during the annual Hiroshima, Nagasaki atomic bombing commemoration. Citizens for Peaceful Resolutons (CPR) joined with the Ventura Beyond War Team, Veterans for Peace, and the Peace Coalition of Greater Ventura to develop and donate the first public peace garden in Ventura County. Central to the garden is a beautiful western cedar peace pole inscribed with 'May Peace Prevail on Earth' in eight languages."

September 9, 2009 - Hiroshima Peace Monument, Ottakring District, Vienna (Austria). "Some 100 people from Japan and Austria attended the unveiling Wednesday of a stone peace monument featuring a flagstone that was exposed to radiation in the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The Vienna monument is linked with a children's peace monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park that is dedicated to Sadako Sasaki [1943-1955], a girl exposed to atomic radiation at the age of 2 & who died at age 12 from a radiation-caused illness. Austrian children's writer Karl Bruckner [1906-1982] authored "Sadako will leben" ("The Day of the Bomb") in 1961 with Sasaki as its heroine. The book has been translated into more than 20 languages. Citizens' groups in Hiroshima & Vienna decided to build the stone monument in the Austrian capital's Ottakring district, Bruckner's home area, to mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Japan & Austria. The Hiroshima Municipal Government contributed the flagstone from Hiroshima's old City Hall. It measures 180 cm high & weighs about 800 kg. It is inscribed with the words "world peace" in Japanese & German."

May 25, 2010 - Hiroshima Stone of Peace, Riga Castle, Riga (Latvia). "A granite plaque made of one of the tram track paving stones that was at ground zero on the day when an atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima. Shows a goddess in prayer & has the text 'From Hiroshima.' Attached to a large field stone from Latvia. Will be temporary installed in the garden of the Riga Castle until the Garden of Destiny is finished & the stone is moved there. President Valdis Zatlers received the stone from the Hiroshima Stone of Peace Association (HSPA) which has presented the stone to more than 100 heads of state & government in the world, but this is the first ti the Stone of Peace is being presented -->in the Baltic States. The HSPA was established in 1991 to promote peace in the world. Its aim is to present a stone to a head of state or government in every country in the world. A Japanese news agency, Kyodo News, has served as the secretariat for the HSPA ever since its establishment 19 years ago."

S Q U A R E

July 25, 2010 - Hiroshima-Platz, Truman House, Potsdam (Germany). "During the Potsdam conference (July 17-August 2, 1945), President Truman signed an order on July 25 to drop atomic bombs on Japan, an act ushering in a world with nuclear weapons. The villa where Truman stayed during the Potsdam Conference remains as 'Truman House.' Five years ago the city parliament of Potsdam decided to name the grass field in front of the villa Hiroshima-Platz. Makoto Fujiwara, a Japanese sculptor based in Norway, made the memorial using stones from Hiroshima tram line and a stone from Sannou Shrine in Nagasaki, which is famous for the one-pillared torii gate representing the destruction of the city's atomic bombing. There is a short inscription on the memorial, saying that the order to drop the atomic bombs was given in Potsdam and that the bombs brought death and dreadful suffering to hundreds of thousands of people. The memorial also expresses hope for a world free of nuclear weapons. Though called a platz (plaza), the area is actually a quiet grass field surrounded by a forest."

April 8, 2011 - Hiroshima-Denkmal / Hiroshima Monument, Rhine River, Bonn-Beuel (Germany). Inscription: "Hiroshima 6.8.1945. Friede Allen Volkern. Atomwaffen weltweit abschaffen" (translation: "Peace to all peoples. Abolish nuclear weapons worldwide"). Click here for video of dedication. Information courtesy of Peter van den Dungen.

July 9, 2016 - Phoenix of Hiroshima, North Mokelumne River, near Isleton, Sacramento County, California (USA). Sailboat sunk in 2010. Found on July 9, 2016, by boat from Sacramento County Sherriff's Department (upper right image) using sonar (upper left image). The boat was constructed near Hiroshima (Japan) by American Quaker Earle Reynonds [1910-1998] in 1954. He & his family used it to sail around the world, then they deliberately sailed into the American nuclear testing zone in the Pacific Ocean in 1958 to protest nuclear weapons. The Reynolds family now hopes to raise the historic 62-year old boat, then transport it to a boatyard in Port Townsend, Washington, for restoration (like the Golden Rule). Information & first 3 images courtesy of Earle's daughter Jessica Reynolds Renshaw (lower left image). Lower right image is screen shot from Google Earth (Street View as of June 2007) at or very near the location of the sinking in 2000.

October 3, 2016 - Hiroshima Tree, on grounds of United Nations, Ariana Park, Geneva (Switzerland). "Gingko sapling was planted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Master gardener Chikara Horiguchi represented Green Legacy Hiroshima (GLH) at the ceremony... GLH has been established to safeguard & spread worldwide the seeds & saplings of Hiroshima’s A-Bomb survivor trees. It is hoped that many partners will join this initiative & become active ambassadors in their countries of Hiroshima, its peace message & its green legacy."

December 8, 2017 - Hiroshima Tree, Peace Palace, The Hague (Netherlands). Grown at the Hortus botanicus in Leiden (Netherlands) from the seed of a tree irradiated by the Hiroshma A-bomb in 1945. Presentation made in the Peace Palace Refectorium (restaurant) celebrating the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons on this date in Oslo (Norway). Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek. Left image shows the Refectorium - no image of the seeding or presentation has been found.