Tweet
ARMENIA RECEIVES PEACE STONE FROM HIROSHIMA
Japan Economic Newswire
June 25, 2014 Wednesday 10:34 AM GMT
YEREVAN, June 25
YEREVAN, June 25 - A Hiroshima-based civic group on Wednesday presented
Armenia with a stone from the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese
city, engraved with an image of the Buddhist goddess of mercy.
Varuzhan Nersessian, an assistant to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan,
received the stone from the Stone for Peace Association of Hiroshima
at a ceremony attended by more than 300 people, including Armenian
Ambassador to Japan Grant Pogosyan and other senior Armenian and
Japanese officials and many local children.
During the ceremony at the Children's Park in front of Yerevan City
Hall, where the stone monument was installed, Nersessian delivered
a speech on behalf of the Armenian president in which the Armenian
leader stressed the importance of a joint declaration during his
visit to Japan in 2012 and welcomed the rapidly growing relationship
between the two countries.
Michio Umemoto, head of the Hiroshima civic group, expressed his
appreciation to Armenia for accepting the stone as a message of
harmony, friendship and peace for all mankind.
Takashi Kurai, deputy chief mission at the Japanese Embassy in
Moscow and in charge of matters pertaining to Armenia, said Japan
is hard at work to open an embassy in Yerevan in January to further
deepen bilateral partnership in political, economic, cultural and
other fields.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui sent a message to the ceremony, saying,
"I am convinced that the people of Armenia, a country which suffered
a bitter history of persecution, understand and share the wish of
Hiroshima better than anyone else."
The granite stone is about 50 square centimeters and weighs about 50
kilograms. It was one of the paving stones for Hiroshima streetcar
tracks that were just 200 meters from ground zero.
Since the start of the donation campaign in 1991, more than 100
countries have so far received or agreed to receive the stones,
which also have the English words "From Hiroshima" engraved on them.
Japan Economic Newswire
June 25, 2014 Wednesday 10:34 AM GMT
YEREVAN, June 25
YEREVAN, June 25 - A Hiroshima-based civic group on Wednesday presented
Armenia with a stone from the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese
city, engraved with an image of the Buddhist goddess of mercy.
Varuzhan Nersessian, an assistant to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan,
received the stone from the Stone for Peace Association of Hiroshima
at a ceremony attended by more than 300 people, including Armenian
Ambassador to Japan Grant Pogosyan and other senior Armenian and
Japanese officials and many local children.
During the ceremony at the Children's Park in front of Yerevan City
Hall, where the stone monument was installed, Nersessian delivered
a speech on behalf of the Armenian president in which the Armenian
leader stressed the importance of a joint declaration during his
visit to Japan in 2012 and welcomed the rapidly growing relationship
between the two countries.
Michio Umemoto, head of the Hiroshima civic group, expressed his
appreciation to Armenia for accepting the stone as a message of
harmony, friendship and peace for all mankind.
Takashi Kurai, deputy chief mission at the Japanese Embassy in
Moscow and in charge of matters pertaining to Armenia, said Japan
is hard at work to open an embassy in Yerevan in January to further
deepen bilateral partnership in political, economic, cultural and
other fields.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui sent a message to the ceremony, saying,
"I am convinced that the people of Armenia, a country which suffered
a bitter history of persecution, understand and share the wish of
Hiroshima better than anyone else."
The granite stone is about 50 square centimeters and weighs about 50
kilograms. It was one of the paving stones for Hiroshima streetcar
tracks that were just 200 meters from ground zero.
Since the start of the donation campaign in 1991, more than 100
countries have so far received or agreed to receive the stones,
which also have the English words "From Hiroshima" engraved on them.