Memorial Mass Held at Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral 81 Years On

Nagasaki, Aug. 9 (Jiji Press)–About 250 people joined a memorial mass held at Urakami Cathedral in the city of Nagasaki on Sunday, which marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japan city. At the cathedral, many Christians were killed by the bomb dropped on the city on Aug. 9, 1945, in the closing days of World War II. Participants in the mass prayed for the souls of the victims. Fusayo Yamaguchi, a 79-year-old Nagasaki resident, has visited the cathedral on the anniversary for more than 50 years to mourn the victims of the nuclear attack. “My thoughts for the victims remain unchanged,” Yamaguchi said. The parents of her husband were exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb. “It’s natural for people in Nagasaki to think that nuclear weapons are not necessary,” she said. Yamaguchi said anxiously: “(Leaders of nuclear weapons states) are saying that (nuclear arms) are necessary to protect their countries. But is it really all right? It would be peaceful if a solution is reached through dialogue.” In the evening, about 800 Christians marched about 1 kilometer to a park that was built at ground zero of the bombing, holding torches and wishing for peace. A statue of Mary that was found in the rubble of Urakami Cathedral after it was damaged by the atomic bomb was placed on a pedestal and carried to the destination by participants in the march. Tomoko Takenaka, a 59-year-old Catholic from Nagasaki who joined the procession, lost her uncle in the atomic bombing. “I have seen my father cry on Aug. 9 every year as he thought of my uncle,” she said. “There can be no peace in Japan without peace in the world,” Takenaka said, expressing concern over the tense international situation. “It was a great opportunity for me to join the march and pray at a time like this,” she said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]