by Casey Cha, AsAmNews Contributor
Residents and visitors gathered in the outskirts of Berkeley, California, for the 21st annual Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony honoring the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
The event began at 6:30 P.M. P.T. in the Aquatic Park. It is a treasured event and ceremony for the city of Berkeley where people come to remember the unfortunate devastation from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki inflicted by the United States. It also honors all victims of war.
The ceremony is drawn out of the Japanese Obon, an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one’s ancestors, whose spirits are believed to be returned to Earth during the event. The lanterns float on the water during dusk, symbolizing the passage of departed ones over to the other realm.
Steve Friedkin founded the Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony in 2002 when he was the vice chair of the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission. While traveling in Japan to speak at a peace conference, Friedkin met an elderly survivor of the incendiary bombs in Osaka during World War II named Ms. Iga, who could not attend peace ceremonies due to her health. Friedkin promised to attend them on her behalf.
The first Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony was held at Aquatic Park on August 9, 2002. More than 100 people participated that year. Over the years the event gained popularity with one year having more than 4,000 people.
Attendees enjoyed the weather and had ample time to decorate their own lantern shades. The lantern launch started during the transition to dusk and there was a beautiful amber glow coming from the tea lights inside each individual hand-drawn shade.
There were a few announcements before the lantern launch with various w messages. Included in the speakers were Rev. Kelly Colwell from the First Church of Berkeley and Rev. Kiyonobu Kuwahara from the Berkeley Buddhist Temple. During his remarks, Rev. Kuwahara reflected on his viewing of the Hiroshima city Peace Park ceremony in Japan.
“All those policymakers, they address a kind of determination to make every effort to, you know, maintain the peace, and then try to reduce the violence in the world. So, yeah, from a Buddhist perspective, yeah, it’s very important to keep peace and harmony, but looking at the history of human beings is very difficult. Maybe from Buddhist approach, from Buddhist perspective, it is maybe very important for each of us to realize how imperfect we are,” Rev. Kuwahara said.
“Because of our imperfection, we fight each other, we accuse each other. Before accusing other people, it is very important to humbly acknowledge how important or how narrow-minded we are” in regards to creating a harmonious world.”
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As the daughter of a Hiroshima survivor, I love that they do this lantern ceremony 🙏