Norman Cousins was an American journalist and peace activist. In 1949, he proposed the “moral adoption” of A-bomb orphans. He also lent his support to young women who survived the atomic bombing, but suffered from disfiguring keloids, to undergo surgery in the United States. In 1964, he was made a Special Honorary Citizen of Hiroshima. He died in 1990 at the age of 75.

In November 2002, the Japan-America Society of Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Prefectural Medical Association, and others formed a committee in order to create a monument in his honor in the vicinity of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The monument was unveiled the following year, on August 2, 2003. On the monument, made of two natural stones, are plates with a relief of Mr. Cousins and a quotation from one of his books: “World peace will not be achieved by drift or default. The goal must be defined, the approaches must be accepted, the responsibilities must be fixed.”