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On January 12, 2023, Mr. Borislav Iliev of Bulgaria, through our member Ms.Yoko Takikawa, who is currently a Japanese language teacher at Sofia University in Bulgaria, asked us to appear on the Bulgarian National TV program “PANORAMA” in a ZOOM interview.

The interview took the form of an interview with Bulgarian journalist Peter Georgiev about the origin of the UN Peace Bell, Chiyoji Nakagawa, the current activities of the Association, the invasion of Ukraine, and some other topics, and the interview took place on January 25 on ZOOM. Ms. Takigawa also witnessed the event.

Mr. Iliev informed us that the interview was broadcast in Bulgaria on January 27, and sent us an archived video saying it was very good. As we have mentioned before, Mr. Iliev found a 1 kg “UN Peace Bell” during his Shikoku pilgrimage and brought it back to Bulgaria, where he made and hung a Torii gate by himself.

Ms. Takigawa invited me once to give an online lecture at the Japanese Studies Department of Sofia University, and I have been inspired to do so.

Representative: Seiko Takase

           

On November 10, 2022, I visited Nagasaki City Hall with Director Katsura and Director Takai to present a 4kg sister bell of the United Nations Peace Bell.

 We were very happy to be welcomed with smiles by Mayor Taue and all the staff, and to feel that the significance of the presentation of the Peace Bells and their wishes were well received by them. The ceremony was attended by Mayor Taue, Mr. Maeda, Director of the A-bomb Countermeasures Department, Ms. Matsuo, Manager of the Peace Promotion Division of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and Ms. Shinozaki, Director of Nagasaki Peace Memorial Museum, and was moderated by Mr. Sadakane, Section chief of the Peace Promotion Division. It was a splendid presentation ceremony with many media attendance.

I felt Nagasaki City’s strong desire for peace. And I still feel the deep connection between the UN Peace Bell and Nagasaki, as there is a history of a 16-year-old girl from Nagasaki who sent a handful of soil from here to the UN headquarters in 1954, which is buried under the cornerstone of the bell tower.

Representative: Seiko Takase

 (Photo courtesy of the City of Nagasaki)

         

On October 16, 2022, the 6th Peace Bell Ringing Ceremony was held in Osaka Expo Memorial Park.

Total 44 people from Tokyo, Osaka and Uwajima attended the ceremony under fine weather as I sweat.

Seiko Takase, representative director, gave a speech. Three dignitaries gave a congratulatory speech;

 former minister of state Kansei Nakano, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary in Kansai, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tsutomu Himeno,and a prefectural assembly member in Osaka Yusuke Sugie.

Congratulatory messages from three dignitaries were read; a member of the House of Representatives Takemitsu Okushita, the Governer of Osaka Prefecture Hirofumi Yoshimura, and the superintendent of education of Osaka Prefecture Masashi Hashimoto.

Congratulatory speech was given by the general manager of Osaka Expo Memorial Park Junichi Nozoe. Congratulatory messagesfrom the mayor of Suita City Keiji Goto, and the mayor of Uwajima City Fumiaki Okahara were introduced.

Two groups of Suita Child Ambassadors from the Education Association for Next Generation Children and a parents and a child from Ukurainewho came to Japan as refugee participated in the ceremony.

All the people present rang the Peace Bell. The sound of bell was sent to the world as prayer for peace.

Handmade books with a theme on peace were displayed on site and interested audience had a look at them with admiration.

Although the ceremony was held under the prevention measures to COVID-19 pandemic,thanks to the fine weather, the ceremony certainly helped us to step forward with hope for the future.

After Mitsuo Tomari, our director, gave closing remarks, a group photo was taken and the ceremony was ended smoothly.

    

On September 21, 2022, the bell at Taiheiji temple was rang. Taiheiji is the place where Chiyoji Nakagawa  started his endeavour for peace; Chiyoji Nakagawa visited the temple when he returned home after the war, and was surprised to see that the temple bell was delivered to the government and gone.Then, Chiyoji had a bell cast using the coins collected from 26 nations and his own saber too.

The bell was marked with letters “世界絶対平和万歳,” meaning “absolutely peaceful world forever,” and was donated to the temple.

Takanobu Hoshino, chief priest, helped us with the ceremony. Jiro Ohno, our director, and kindergarten children from Rissho Hoikuen,  participated in the ceremony. The chief priest gave a speech about the bell, followed by bell ringing.

The lovely children listened to the speech delivered by the chief priest eagerly. There was an interview by Nankai Broadcasting also.

  

The bell in Osaka Expo Memorial Park, which is a sister bell of the one in the United Nations headquarters, was cleansied and bell ringing took place.The park was supposedly closed, Junichi Nozoe,the general manager of the park, and his staff kindly supported for us to cleanse the bell; Masaaki Taniyama,our director, and volunteers worked together. After the bell cleansing was finished, everyone on the site rang the bell and wished for peace.  We hoped that the sound of the bell reached to people in the disputed area.　

 

 

In Tokyo, there was a ceremony titled Bell Ringing Ceremony to Pray for Peace throughout Japan at  Meiji Shrine.Seiko Takase, representative director, and Masanori Katsura, our director, attended the ceremony.Following Sukehiro Hasegawa, master of the ceremony, Seiko Takase talked about the story of peace bell.Yuriko Koike, Governer of Tokyo, and other guests gave a speech and rang the bell, a scaled-down one, weighing 4kg, of the UN Peace Bell. With the performance of biwa by Kakushin Tomoyoshi, the ceremony was closed.

  

 

 

On September 16, the International Day of Peace ceremony was held at UN Headquarters, and Director Tomari and I participated in the ceremony.

Although the ceremony was small, as the Corona crisis has not yet ended, Secretary-General Guterres’ serious and thoughtful speech made the ceremony solemn. He called for “the world to unite, not fight, to tackle the threats of poverty, hunger, and climate change,” and rang the Peace Bell with a prayer. General Assembly President Korosi then rang the bell.

I was in a wheelchair, so I was outside the ceremonial circle, but Deputy Secretary General Amina, out of concern for me, invited me into the circle to stand by the UN Peace Bell. Secretary General Guterres also greeted me with a smile, and I was so moved by his kindness and his firm recognition of the history and significance of the Peace Bell that I involuntarily burst into tears.

The bell, seen up close, had a very nice bronze color that reminded me of its 68-year history. I was impressed by the golden glow of the words “Long Live World Absolute Peace,” a prayer for world peace, and the crescendo symbol, which represents peace for those close to us.

I felt as if my late father, Chiyoji Nakagawa, was standing beside me looking up at the bell and saying, “Please do not give up and continue to pray for peace, one by one” even in a world of continuing conflict.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　       Representative Seiko Takase

 

(Photo courtesy of the United Nations Information Center and Mainichi Newspapers)

 

　　　　

On August 25, 2022, Director Takai and I visited Hiroshima City and presented the sister bell of the United Nations Peace Bell to the City of Hiroshima.

The presentation ceremony was held at the Mayor’s Office. Mayor Matsui welcomed us with a smile, and Mr. Sakaya, Director of the Citizens Bureau, Mr. Matsushima, Director of the International Peace Promotion Division, and Mr. Higaki, Director of the Peace Promotion Division, were in attendance.

 

After an explanation of the significance of the UN Peace Bell and its origins, the presentation ceremony was held. After receiving the bell, Mayor Matsui rang it and listened to the sound of the bell. After the ceremony, the Mayor leaned forward to listen to me as I gave him materials and a picture book about the UN Peace Bell. It was the first time for me to meet Mayor Matsui in person, and I found him to be very calm and gentle. Many media representatives attended the ceremony, which turned out to be a splendid presentation ceremony.

 

We are very pleased with the care of Mr. Yagasaki and Mr. Kubo, who were in charge of the event. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Representative: Seiko Takase

(Photo courtesy of Hiroshima City)