（日本語は下にあります↓）

The wind was gentle and water was calm in Berkeley Aquatic Park that day. Many people from different walks of lives has gathered up one afternoon to prepare the ceremonial 1,000 paper cranes （千羽鶴）and lanterns to light the memories of perished souls. What has become my first attendance of the annual San Francisco Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony was coincided with the 70th anniversary of end of WWII and most importantly, the world’s first nuclear massacre on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

August 6th, 1945 at 8:16am, the first atomic bomb was dropped from the sky to the city of Hiroshima and instantly took nearly one hundred and sixteen thousand of innocent lives. Subsequently, on August 9th another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. To this day, survivors of atomic bombs are still suffering from radiation illness and scars of discrimination they received from prejudice against those exposed to radioactivity. I was born long after the behemoth fire and black clouds has dissipated from Hiroshima and Nagasaki; but because of my experience living in Guam where one of the most fierce battles of War in Pacific took place, I was always close to the stories told directly from the mouths of families and veterans of war.
My father is a baby boomers so he was not directly involved with the war, but he founded the jungle trekking tour company in the late 90s and supported the peace ceremony activities on the Island to help families trace their footsteps of relatives during the wartime and also clean the memorial monuments in the jungles with local Chamorro whose families were murdered by Japanese in the war. I remember helping my father as *young tour guide and participated on memorial events in Guam (*Yeah, I was merely 14 or 15 when I took the first customers to the boonies of Guam to tell the fable-like stories of Shoichi Yokoi — the last survivor of War in Pacific who was found in the jungle 28 years after the war has ended). The experience was heart cleansing and there was nothing but the content feeling of accomplishment.
So naturally unlike many contemporary Japanese in their 20s, the 70th anniversary of conclusion of war between US and Japan means something closer to me than another scrolling news feed on Facebook.

The dropping of atomic bombs in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 and Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945 are obviously the topic that continues to matter to all human beings especially in the age of growing nuclear threat.

The event that takes place in Berkeley every year keeps us in alarm and reminding us how our peaceful existence today to be able to live and be with people we love is precious and also fragile. This year, the 14th Annual San Francisco Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony brought about 1,500-2,000 attendees to fold paper cranes and decorate lantern facades. This event was organized with total reliance on voluntary, and I have witnessed the amazing turnout from the beginning to the end of ceremony. As Japanese living in the city so distant from home, I really felt thankful and quite meaningful to be there.

Peace Lantern Ceremony happens every year with the effort of ordinary people living in Bay Area. As you can see in the video, nationality or belief doesn’t matter in the topic of atomic bomb. It is something that we all have to remember to take it to the future.

If my life still keeps me in Bay Area next year, I will hope to attend this beautiful assembly again.

:: Peace Lantern Ceremony Event Page ::
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1945年8月6日、午前8時16分。

70年前の丁度この日、広島上空から世界で初の原子力爆弾が投下され、人類初の原子力兵器による大量殺戮が行われました。

北カリフォルニアの街、バークレーでは毎年この日になると、地元の人たちの手によって原子力廃滅と犠牲者たちへの追悼の念をこめてささやかな灯篭流しの式が行われます。

今年のイベントはFacebookで9万4千という膨大な参加者数を示し、主催者側も今まで以上の混雑を予想してindiegogoでの緊急の募金願いを促したり、開催前から人々の関心は非常に高まっていました。僕自身もボランティアで参加させてもらいましたが、参加者の多くは白人アメリカ人やアジア系アメリカ人で、実際の参加者数は2千人前後にとどまったものの、多くの方々の支持によって素晴らしい式になりました。

僕自身、グアムという太平洋戦争の激戦地跡で育ち、元兵隊さんや戦争と関わりのあった島の人々から当時の話を聞く機会が多々ありました。その人たちが語るのは今では映画や小説の中でしか聞けないような生々しい話だったのですが、実際に当時を生きた人の口から直に伝えられる戦争の話はとても貴重だったし、当時少年だった僕の心にメディアのフィルターをとおさない真実として強く受け止められました。こういう経緯もあって、今回の灯篭流しはそのイベントの存在を知った時点から絶対に参加しなくてはならないなと思ってました。

式といっても主催者側はアメリカ人。日本特有の厳かでやや堅苦しくなりがちな雰囲気よりも、明るい音楽の演奏やワークショップ風の折鶴と灯篭の作成で、家族で来ても「楽しめる」演出が印象的でした。広島市と長崎市の市長からの手紙の拝読や被爆者の方のスピーチなども含め、70年の折に相応しい意味ある追悼式になったと思います。当日は天候にも恵まれ小さな子供たちは自分たちの作った灯篭が風に煽られて泳いでいく姿を目と体で追いかけていました。

今年で14周年目を迎えたサンフランシスコベイエリアの平和ランタン式。来年も更に多くの協力者を迎えて印象的な式になることを願っています。是非、こちらのイベントのホームページで今後の開催に向けての募金やボランティア情報を得てみてください。

主催者の皆様、ありがとうございました。