On September 21, 2018, the UN Peace Bell Ringing Ceremony was held at the United Nations Headquarters. Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General, and H.E. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, UN General Assembly chairman, gave speech and rung the bell in front of Mr.koro Bessho, Japanese ambassador to the UN, Mr. Michael Douglas, UN Peace Ambassador, representatives from nations and the five Japanese delegates: Ms. Seiko Takase, representative director of Association for the Preservation of UN Peace Bell, Mr. Kazuaki Tanaka, director, Mr. Masanori Katsura, director, Mr. Yoshimasa Kadota, member, and Ms. Kaiho Tanaka, member.
After the ceremony was ended and the dignitaries were to leave, three people, i.e. Mr. Guterres and H.E. Espinosa with a smile, together with Mr. Bessho, approached Ms. Takase unexpectedly and shook hands with her.
That was realized by the thoughtful people at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations led by Mr. Bessho, the UN mission Ambassador. The visit turned out to be a very memorable one.