Quakers mark Hiroshima Day
Friends in Coventry marked Hiroshima Day
Paul Parker, recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM), spoke at Coventry Hiroshima Day last week to remember the dropping of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
The lord mayor of Coventry also attended the event at Coventry Cathedral, led by the Chapel of Unity at the Cathedral on 6 August, as well as minister Takashi Okada from the Embassy of Japan. Coventry poet, Anthony Owens, recited one of his Hiroshima poems and six students from Cardinal Newman Catholic School told the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl affected by the Hiroshima bomb.
According to David Fish, of Coventry Meeting, who coordinated the event this year, the day also included six Coventry young ambassadors led by Rebecca Bollands of Howes Primary School. To mark the fact that the event took place during the UK-Japan cultural events season, there was also Japanese Taiko Drumming.
David Fish told the Friend that Coventry Quakers were delighted to welcome Paul Parker and a delegation from the Embassy of Japan. He said: ‘A memorial has been held in Coventry for Hiroshima Day every year since 1987. The two cities have developed a friendship over the years, with messages exchanged between the lord mayor of Coventry and the mayor of Hiroshima.’
The service of reflection was held by Lord Mayor’s Committee for Peace and Reconciliation.
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