Bell ringings commemorate anniversary of atomic bombings.
Survivor of WWII attack attends sober memorial event with message of peace
The Rev. Takashi Tanemori rang a bell Wednesday in solemn remembrance of the atomic bomb that leveled his hometown of Hiroshima, Japan, 75 years ago and destroyed his family.
It marked an event that forever has changed the 82-year-old Tanemori, who was a little boy at the time of the bombing.
As he rang the bell at Shimada Friendship Park
in Richmond’s Marina Bay, Tanemori’s thoughts were more than 5,500 miles away in Hiroshima. He had intended to attend the 75th anniversary in Japan, but the coronavirus pandemic and Japan’s travel ban upended those plans. Japan essentially has shut its borders to all but a few business visitors and has more than 100 countries on its travel ban list — including the United States.
“I think the best thing is that after I look back 75 years — how wonderful by the grace of God that I’m here,” Tanemori, a Berkeley resident, said Wednesday. It is “human folly that we have yet to learn the lessons of the past,” he added.
In the Bay Area, mostly virtual bell ringings were done to commemorate the 75th atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombing killed between 90,000 and 146,000 people in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and up to 80,000 in Nagasaki three days later.
The bombs led to Japan’s surrender to the United States and the end of World War II.
On Wednesday, a bell ringing ceremony also took place at the San Jose Betsuin Buddhist Temple in the city’s Japantown, with Rinban the Rev. Gerald Sakamoto and the Rev. Etsuko Mikame participating. Mikame rang the bell 75 times for each year since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima.
San Jose District 3 Councilman Raul Peralez, a board
“I think the best thing is that after I look back 75 years — how wonderful by the grace of ood that I’m here.” — Rev. Takashi Tanemori
member of Sister Cities International; Atsuko Yube of the San Jose-Okayama Sister Cities; and Kathy Sakamoto also took part.
San Jose’s Trinity Episcopal Cathedral rang its carillon bells to join the U.S.-Japan Sister Cities Bell Ringing event Wednesday. The San Jose-Okayama Sister Cities joined about 50 cities across the United States, according to Sakamoto of San Jose.
“The event is meant to bring conscience to the thought of the loss of life and the terrible consequences of actions taken to unleash destruction of nuclear weapons,” Sakamoto said in a statement. The sister cities group will stage another bell ringing at 7:02 p.m. Saturday — the exact time the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
Meanwhile, Tanemori will take part in a 75th commemoration online event from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday sponsored by Nihonmachi Outreach Committee of San Jose. Tanemori will be speaking with the Rev. Nobuaki Hanaoka, a Nagasaki bomb survivor and anti-war activist. Both men, who have dedicated their lives to peace and ending nuclear war, will speak about their experiences.
For more information, go to sjnoc.org/.
In addition, on Saturday, Pax Christi Northern California will celebrate a vigil Mass with a moment of silence and bell ringing at 7:02 p.m. Tanemori will also speak about his experiences at the online event.
For more information, go to paxchristinorcal.org/liturgy-memory-repentance.
At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) will conduct a church service and event in commemoration of the bombings.
For more information, go to trivalleycares.org/.
And on Thursday, Tri-Valley CAREs conducted its annual protest against nuclear arms at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with an online event.
Tanemori said he has transformed and become a changed man during his life journey. When he first came to the United States in 1956 at the age of 19, he only had revenge on his mind toward Americans.
Tanemori lost six family members, including his parents and grandparents. His oldest sister, who was 16, and baby sister, who was 14 months old, were killed. Tanemori, two sisters and his younger brother survived and lived together afterward.
He has gone from feeling vengeful to forgiving and has reconciled with history, America and himself.
Since 1985, Tanemori has promoted the message of peace through forgiveness with his organization, the Silkworm Peace Institute.