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Description
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This memorial service is held every year on August 6 from 6:15 a.m. in front of the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound in Peace Memorial Park. This memorial service is unique in that it brings together people from three different religions: Shintoism, Christianity, and Buddhism. The origin of this memorial service can be found in a memorial service held on August 6, 1946, the year after the atomic bombing in a temporary chapel adjacent to a temporary memorial tower (the "Hiroshima City Memorial Monument for the War Victims" located at Jisenji-no-hana at that time) where each religious denomination took turns performing a memorial service. In July 1955, 10 years after the atomic bombing, the current Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound was built and since then a joint memorial service that transcends religious sects has been held there on August 6. The current memorial service for the A-bomb victims consists of water offering, purification and prayer (Shintoism), flower offering, prayer, and requiem (Christianity), veneration, sutra reading, and prayers for the deceased (Buddhism), flower offering, tamagushi offering (reverentially offering a branch of the sacred tree), burning of incense, and a speech (by the chairman of the Hiroshima War Memorial Service Association). The service lasts approximately 45 minutes.
The memorial service is organized by a private organization called the Hiroshima War Memorial Service Association. The predecessor organization, named the Hiroshima War Victims Consolation Association, was formed in 1946 for the purpose of collecting and memorializing the remains of the A-bomb victims that were scattered throughout the city. Initially, the organization was essentially under the jurisdiction of Hiroshima City Hall with the mayor of Hiroshima serving as chairman and an office located in the Social Affairs Division of the City of Hiroshima. In May 1950 it was reorganized as a private organization and renamed the Hiroshima War Memorial Service Association, which it remains to this day.
The Hiroshima War Memorial Service Association manages the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound, the site of the memorial service, protects the remains (ashes) of approximately 70,000 atomic bomb victims (many of whom are unidentified) that are deposited there, and provides memorial services on behalf of the bereaved families.
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