Contributions from people overseas who are sharing the message of Hiroshima

(16)Floating Lanterns in Seattle on August 6th by Nobuo Yokota

When you hear the word "Seattle", you might think of Ichiro, the Major League baseball player who plays for the Seattle Mariners

But in addition to Ichiro and his teammate Jojima, the lovely city of Seattle was also home to someone who had a special connection to Hiroshima.

Participants making paper cranes at the memorial event on August 6th. (photo by Kanako Higashi)

Nobuo Yokota

Born in Saitama, Nobuo Yokota is a freelance journalist and the head of a peace advocacy group called World Peace Project For Children. He is also the goodwill envoy for a group led by the brother of Sadako Sasaki that promotes the peaceful message of paper cranes.

His name was Floyd Schmoe and he was American. After the atomic bombing, he inspired the movement "Houses for Hiroshima".

A forestry researcher, Dr. Schmoe was a Quaker and a pacifist. After the bombing, he declared "There is no barbarism worse than the atomic bomb"--a courageous stance considering public opinion of the day. He went on to assert that "Not all Americans accept the use of atomic bombs" and he called for a campaign of "Houses for Hiroshima" in which contributions would help rebuild the houses in Hiroshima that were destroyed in the bombing.

At the time, Dr. Schmoe was already over 50 years old--this means he began this work at an age older than the parents of most youth.

Today, only one "House of Hiroshima" still stands in the city, a building bearing his name called "Schmoe Hall".

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However, Dr. Schmoe also helped construct a "Peace Park" in Seattle, near Washington University. In the middle of this small park stands a statue of Sadako, always adorned with thousands of paper cranes.

Every year on August 6th, Seattle also hosts a display of floating lanterns called "From Hiroshima to Hope". Held for 25 years at a city lake, it is thought to be the largest memorial event linked to the atomic bomb outside Japan. Every year, about 30 groups take part in the ceremony and children learn to make paper cranes which are then sent to Hiroshima or offered to schools in Seattle.

An exhibition entitled "Support from Abroad" is currently being held at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. This exhibition includes an 8mm film that Dr. Schmoe produced. His film depicts the events of that time and is highly recommended.

Hiroshima is not just a city in Japan; it is truly a city of the world.