Taka Kigawa is invited to perform Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque.

Please join us for the 25th Annual Interfaith Peace Ceremony to commemorate the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.

Rev. Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, a Japanese Buddhist priest, Hiroshima Peace Ambassador, Peace Correspondent of Nagasaki, President and Founder of Heiwa Peace and Reconciliation Foundation of New York, Executive Officer of the Buddhist Council of New York and former Vice President of the Interfaith Center of New York, has organized this Annual Interfaith Peace Gathering since 1994. This commemorative ceremony will include local Buddhist Shinto, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Native American religious leaders, along with musicians and choirs from Japan and the United States.

Messages from the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be read by representatives from associations of local NYC Japanese residents who originally hail from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima A-bomb survivor Tomiko Morimoto West will share her story. The keynote address will be presented by Maryknoll Sister Jean Fallon from Pax Christi Metro New York. She is a longtime peace activist, served in Japan for decades, and is dedicated to nuclear weapons abolition. At exactly 7:15 PM, the exact moment of the Hiroshima bombing, (8:15 Aug. 6th Japan time) a bell for peace will be rung.

The event will feature Japanese and American musicians including Grammy nominated jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and flutist Lew Tabackin; the Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir, led by Pastor Frank Haye; The Men’s Glee Club of New York, a New York based Japanese choir; Circle Wind Boys and Girls Choir, a Japanese Children’s Choir; Calligraphy demonstration by Eita Segawa with vocalist DAI from Japan; Tenri Gagaku Music Society of NY; Kaori Hiwasa, dancer, and Okinawa instrument “Sanshin” by Sonny Ochiai and Rino Aise (RH+); and Taka Kigawa, pianist.

We will be participated by spiritual leaders, including Shaykh Dr. TA Bashir, Rev. Susana Bastarrica, Roberto Mukaro Borrero, Rev. Jiro Mihama, Guru Dileepji Maharaj, Rev. TK Nakagaki, Rev. Kei Okada, Ven. Refa, Rabbi Mira Rivera, and Rev. Valerie A. Ross. Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb Photo Exhibition will be on display in the sanctuary entrance. “Peace Lights” by Pete Rogina will be displayed during the ceremony.

The event will be followed by a Peace Walk around the Washington Square Park. Preceding this Gathering, there will be a Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Vigil by the Washington Square Park Arch at 5:00 PM to which all are invited. There a gong will be rung 73 times for 73 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We will recite “The Nuclear Prayer,” an interfaith prayer for world peace free from the threat of nuclear war, and we will distribute information about this critical issue to passersby.

This event is co-sponsored by the Buddhist Council of New York and the Interfaith Center of New York, Pax Christi Metro New York, supported by the Interfaith Center of USA and Origami Therapy Association, hosted by the Judson Memorial Church, and organized by the Heiwa Peace and Reconciliation Foundation of New York.