Crane sculpture unveiled to honor Nagasaki
victims
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 Kyodo - A 2-meter sculpture
of a crane was unveiled at the Josephine
Butler Community Center in Washington on
Tuesday, to commemorate the 55th anniversary
of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The Peace Crane was erected to commemorate
the victims of radiation, militarism and
violence. It was commissioned by the Global
Resource Action Center for the Environment
(GRACE), with the help of the Hiroshima Nagasaki
Day Committee.
New York artist Marjorie Kouns was commissioned
by GRACE to create the sculpture. She said
she chose to use objects such as electrical
cord, a lamp shade, chicken wire and wooden
spoons because they are taken for granted,
just like the people that were taken for
granted when the bomb was dropped.
The 1,000 spoons making up the crane's plumage
are engraved with the names of victims of
nuclear arms.
Among the speakers were Nobuo Miyake, an
official of a Japanese antinuclear organization,
who was 16 and a student in Hiroshima when
the bomb was dropped there, and Kumiko Tanaka,
20, who is active in the American University
Coalition for a Nuclear Free World.
Born in Kochi Prefecture and a student in
Kyoto, Tanaka first became interested in
the nuclear arms cause one year ago when
she brought to tears during the annual atomic
bomb ceremony in Hiroshima.
She said she thinks it is important to have
this kind of ceremony to remember the victims.
After the unveiling and the speeches, the
group moved to Meridian Hill Park in time
for a moment of silence and candlelight vigil
at 10 p.m. (11 a.m. Wednesday Japan time).
The bomb was dropped on Nagasaki at 11:02
a.m.
==Kyodo
