City of Nagasaki, Japan
Iccho Itoh, Mayor

MESSAGE

As a representative of the citizens of Nagasaki, it is my great honor to be able to convey this message to you on the occasion of the Second Annual Japanese Peace Lantern Ceremony being held in Berkeley, California, to coincide with the annual commemorations of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.

I would like to extend my sincere respect to you all for holding this ceremony every year to console the souls of the victims of the atomic bombings and to pray for the everlasting world peace.

On August 9, 1945, the explosion of a single atomic bomb devastated Nagasaki, killing more than 74,000 people and injuring 75,000 people.

Fifty-eight years have passed since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but still today, the atomic bomb survivors continue to suffer from a mental and a physical wound that will never heal. We, the citizens of Nagasaki have been appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons and for the realization of lasting world peace, determined to ensure that the cataclysm by nuclear weapons is never repeated.

The road ahead to the abolition of nuclear weapons is by no means easy and we still have a lot of problems to solve, but the citizens of Nagasaki are determined to join hands with you and peace-loving people of the world and to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons and for the realization of lasting world peace.

In conclusion, I would like to extend my warm wishes for the good health of all the people involved in this Japanese Peace Lantern Ceremony and for the continued prosperity of the City of Berkeley.

Iccho Itoh
Mayor of Nagasaki
August 9, 2003