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Sombre ceremony outside Manitoba Legislature illuminates push to eradicate nuclear weapons

Lanterns of Peace ceremony marks 78th anniversary of atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki

CBC, Nathan Liewicki · Aug 10, 2023

More than 100 lanterns, each painted with unique patterns and messages of symbolism, floated on the fountain on the south side of the Manitoba Legislative Building on Wednesday evening.

As the sunset shortly after 9 p.m., a candle in the middle of each lantern was lit, commemorating Winnipeg’s annual Lanterns for Peace ceremony.

The event, which started in Winnipeg in the mid-1990s, marked the 78th anniversary of the Allies dropping an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Three days earlier, Hiroshima was hit with a nuclear bomb.

The number of casualties stemming from the two atomic bombs is unknown, but it’s estimated that between 130,000 and 230,000 civilians and soldiers lost their lives.

Less than a week after the second bomb was dropped, Japan surrendered, ending the Second World War on Aug. 15, 1945.

Terumi Kuwada is a third-generation Japanese-Canadian. She was previously a member of the committee which organized the ceremony.

Kuwada called the ceremony both serious and spiritual.

“It’s a very sombre and serene kind of moment when all the lanterns are lit up and floating … almost like a spiritual awakening,” she said. “It is really a time to remembers innocent citizens of the atomic bomb, as well as advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons.”

unko Bailey grew up in Nagasaki. The detonation of the second atomic bomb is especially significant to her.

A member of the Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba, Bailey learned about how the atomic bomb in her hometown affected her father and so many others. Bailey’s father was 82 years old when he died last February.

“Luckily, his family was evacuated to a different part of Japan so he was not directly affected by the bomb, but most of our relatives were still in Nagasaki city and were exposed to the radiation in the area,” Bailey said. “A lot of my uncles and aunts passed away, if not immediately, seven days after, or a year later from leukemia, the radiation disease.”……………………………………………………………………………… more https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/lanterns-peace-nagasaki-commemoration-manitoba-1.6932149

August 11, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, PERSONAL STORIES, Religion and ethics