Tuesday and Friday mark the 57th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively.

The musical, ''Ningen Kore Mina Onaji -- Zeno-san to Kodomotachi'' (All people are equal -- Brother Zeno and children), is about Zeno Zebrowskie, who worked in Japan until his death at the age of 91 in 1982, according to Mariko Hosokawa, who heads the group performing the musical, Sapporo Kodomo Musical Ikuseikai.

Zeno, a Franciscan monk, cared for victims in Nagasaki after the bombing and also helped provide care for children in hardship by building institutions in various places.

Hosokawa, 71, said, ''The Japanese have completely forgotten the goodwill of Brother Zeno. (The musical) is intended to express gratitude to him.''

Hosokawa said group members visited Auschwitz, Poland, in 1997 while on an overseas tour and some children, after seeing the site of the wartime concentration camp, voiced wishes that they would like to do a musical on the theme of war.

After returning home, Hosokawa visited Nagasaki to meet with A-bomb survivors before writing a story for the musical, she said.

Hosokawa started the musical troupe in 1980 to provide music education to children in Sapporo in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.

Around 70 members from the group as well as 30 primary school children Hosokawa trained in Nagasaki will perform in the musical, according to Hosokawa.