Pond of Peace and Flame of Peace

Pond of Peace

 

The Fifth Japan Junior Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s member conference held in Hiroshima in the fall of 1956 concluded with the words “Commemorating this even, we shall bequeath a memorial to Hiroshima.”  As a result of the gift of Junior Chambers of Commerce throughout Japan, the Pond of Peace was constructed on July 31, 1957.  The unveiling ceremony for the gift to the city of Hiroshima took place on the following August 3.  The pond encircles the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and was designed to make the Cenotaph seem as if it were floating up out of the pond’s waters.  By the time the Flame of Peace was built on August 1, 1964, the committee responsible for construction of the pedestal of the flame had altered the pond to its current dimensions by increasing its width to 17 meters and its length to 70 meters backward from the cenotaph.

 

Flame of Peace

 

At the northern edge of the “Pond of Peace,” there is the “Flame of Peace” which was built with donations from all over Japan.  It was designed by Tokyo University professor Kenzo Tange and completed on August 1, 1964.  Symbolizing the universal desire for a world free from nuclear weapons the flame will burn until the day when all such weapons shall have disappeared from the earth.  The flame lies in a direct line between the cenotaph and the A-bomb Dome.  The pedestal is an abstract rendering of two hands opening upward.  At its completion, the flame was lit by representatives of the 35 temples, shrines and churches in Japan as well as representatives of Japanese industry who brought torches symbolizing religion and industry.  About 10,000 observers offered silent prayer.

 

Submitted by

Bryan Arnold