August 6, the anniversary of Hiroshima's nuclear bombing: Each area of Japan sounds a bell in request of peace and total abolition of nuclear weapons

Translated from the original article at: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20120806-00000302-rtn-l26

Transmitted at 5:08 PM on Monday, August 6 by the Ryoutan Daily Shinbun

Praying for peace after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a bell is struck at 8:15AM (At Ennōji Temple)

The morning of August 6 marked the 67th anniversary of Hiroshima's atomic bombing. Not wanting to repeat the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in places such as the temples of Fukuchiyama City, the echoes of bells calling for peace could be heard. After the 2011 Eastern Japan disaster, the issue of nuclear power has rocked Japan. Citizens sound their bells, also requesting the removal of nuclear reactors.

Each year, the Fukuchiyama Atom and Hydrogen Bomb Society (Japanese site) and other groups call to the city's temples and citizens against nuclear weapons. At 8:15AM, August 6 (1945), the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Now, people everywhere within the city sound their bells at that time, in peace and mourning for those sacrificed.

At the Ennōji Temple located in Shimosasō, Chief Priest Ōyama Yoshinori and local residents performed the heart sutra. During the requiem, echoes of bells could be heard, as those present closed their eyes and clasped their hands in a moment of stillness.

A man who sounded his bell said. "This is for us not to be defeated by nuclear weapons, energy or the hands of man. I think nuclear power is something to be feared."

On April 9, 11:02 AM, the time that the bombing of Nagasaki occurred, bells of peace will also play everywhere within the city.

 　

Original Text:

きょう原爆の日：核廃絶と平和願い　各地で鐘の音響く

両丹日日新聞 8月6日(月)17時8分配信

平和を願い広島に原爆が投下された午前８時１５分に鐘をついた（円応寺で）

６７回目の広島・原爆の日を迎えた６日朝、広島、長崎の悲劇を繰り返さないためにと、福知山市内の寺院などで今年も平和の鐘が鳴らされた。東日本大震災以降、原発問題で揺れる日本。脱原発を願い鐘をつく市民もいた。

 毎年、福知山原水協などが市内の寺院や市民に呼びかけ、広島に原爆が投下された６日午前８時１５分に市内のあちこちで平和の鐘を鳴らして犠牲者を追悼している。

下篠尾の円応寺では、大山義典住職と地域住民が般若心経を唱えて鐘をつき、鎮魂の音色が響く間、じっと目を閉じて手を合わせた。

鐘をついた男性は「核兵器も原発も人の手に負えないという意味では一緒。核は怖いものだと思う」と話していた。

長崎に投下された９日午前１１時２分にも市内の複数箇所で平和の鐘をつく。