Mayor Itcho Ito of Nagasaki City read “The Nagasaki Peace Declaration” and warned that “the nuclear threat is now on the verge of expanding into space.” Ms. Sanae Ikeda, an atomic bomb survivor, gave a “Commitment to Peace” and a children’s choir sang “Kora no Mi Tamayo” (“The Spirit of Our Children”).
Prime Minister Koizumi stated, “Being the only country ever to have experienced nuclear devastation, Japan observes its Peace Constitution, firmly maintaining the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. Japan is also continuing to appeal to the international community for the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of a permanent peace so that the horror of nuclear weapons may never again be repeated.”
Prime Minister Koizumi noted, “As regards the atomic bomb victims, I will continue to devote myself wholeheartedly to promoting support measures while taking into full consideration the circumstances of the atomic bomb victims who are advancing in years.”
After the end of the ceremony, Prime Minister Koizumi went to Megumi no Oka, a nursing home in Nagasaki, and visited some of the patients.
Prime Minister Koizumi visits Nagasaki 2001
Trauma affecting health of Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors Japan Times, August 4, 2001
Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu 