By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Participants hold hands around a replica of Hiroshima's Peace Bell
at the end of a service to remember the World War II atomic bombing
of Hiroshima, Honolulu's sister city for 30 years.

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Hawaii,
Hiroshima
renew bond
for peace

Sister cities resound with
resolutions that atomic war
won't happen again

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

Every day at 8:15 a.m., a bell tolls in Hiroshima as a reminder of the horror and devastation the world can wreak upon itself.

Yesterday, a replica of Hiroshima's Peace Bell rang again and again at Honolulu's Izumo Taishakyo Mission, reminding people here that the responsibility for world peace lies with all.

"It represents the Hiroshima bombing and our responsibility that it won't happen again," said 10-year-old Braxton Higa after striking the bell.

Local religious leaders, children from the Honolulu YMCA and government officials gathered yesterday at the mission for the annual peace service. On Aug. 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the most powerful weapon the world had known was dropped on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 140,000 people either outright or within months. Three days later, the United States dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki, ending World War II.

The messages delivered at the gathering were the same: "Let peace begin with me," said the Rev. Julia McKenna-Dubin of the Ministry for Divine Harmony. "It starts with peaceful thoughts . . . links of peace to encircle Hawaii and the world."

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
The Rev. Donna Faith Eldredge, left, and June Shimokawa hold
hands at yesterday's peace ceremony

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The Rev. Richard Amano, dressed in a gold kimono, opened the ceremony with Shinto prayers for purification and blessings. Elementary-age children from the Honolulu YMCA hung 1,000 folded paper cranes from the bell as symbols of peace and hope.

The bonds between Honolulu and Hiroshima are strong. They have been sister cities for 30 years, and many of the state's Japanese Americans have roots in the area.

The YMCA here has sponsored annual student exchanges between the cities since 1961, making it the longest-running YMCA exchange program in the country, said Don Anderson, executive director of the Honolulu YMCA. A group of Hawaii students were in Hiroshima for the peace ceremony this week, and elementary students from Hiroshima just left here.

Anderson said young people from the two cities now meet in the Philippines to do charity work. One project was at the Leyte Gulf, scene of a horrific World War II battle.

"We have to build these bridges," Anderson said.

Yesterday's ceremony was a mini-replica of what happens in Hiroshima every day. About 300,000 atom-bomb survivors, known as "hibakusha," still live in the "peace city." While some never speak of that day, others speak of it all the time. They share their experiences with students, visitors, anyone who will listen, in hopes of preventing another atomic bombing.

"We picked a wonderful partner in Hiroshima," Anderson said. "They are concerned about mankind everywhere."