Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor Parks to Conclude Sister Ties

Jiji Press

11:37 JST, June 23, 2023

HIROSHIMA (Jiji Press) — Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in western Japan and the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in the U.S. state of Hawaii will conclude a sister park agreement, the Hiroshima city government said Thursday.

The signing of the sister deal between the two parks, both established to pass on the history of World War II, is scheduled to be held at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on June 29.

Before the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May, the U.S. side sounded out the Japanese side on the idea of establishing a sister relationship between the two parks, according to the city government.

Regarding the Hawaii park, which represents the memory of the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Navy’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S side says that the purpose of the park is to promote peace and mutual understanding between the parties to the Pacific War, part of World War II, and that the two parks share a common goal.

Hiroshima, devastated by a U.S. atomic bombing in the closing days of World War II in August 1945, decided to conclude the deal as a step toward realizing the Hiroshima Vision on nuclear disarmament, announced at the G-7 summit.

“We hope the two parks will give visitors opportunities to think about the importance of peace and stupidity of war and start taking action to realize a peaceful world without nuclear weapons,” a Hiroshima city government official said.