
Restored Urakami Cathedral bell unveiled in Nagasaki as symbol of hope, reconciliation
NAGASAKI -- One of the two bells from the former Urakami Cathedral here, which was destroyed by the U.S. atomic bombing during World War II, was recently unveiled after being restored with donations from U.S. Catholics and others. After being exhibited, the bell is set to ring alongside its counterpart at 11:02 a.m. on Aug. 9, exactly 80 years after the bombing.
The original Urakami Cathedral was completed in 1914 after 20 years of construction. The Romanesque-style brick cathedral with twin spires extending approximately 26 meters high was hailed as the largest in the East at the time. The spires housed a large and a small bell, which reportedly rang together only on special occasions like Christmas.
On Aug. 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, devastating the cathedral located about 500 meters northeast of the hypocenter. According to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Damage Records, dozens of priests and Christians were killed. The large bell from the south spire was miraculously recovered from the rubble and reinstalled in the rebuilt cathedral, but the smaller bell from the north spire was destroyed and remained lost.
James Nolan Jr., 62, a professor of sociology at Williams College in the United States, proposed the donation. His grandfather was a physician involved in the Manhattan Project, which developed atomic bombs, and visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki as part of a survey team shortly after the bombings. Nolan compiled an account detailing his grandfather's conflicts over the atomic bombings based on records his grandfather left behind, and published the Japanese edition of a book in 2022, showing his deepest sympathy for Nagasaki.
In May 2023, while visiting Nagasaki to write another book, Nolan met Kojiro Moriuchi, 72, a local Catholic and descendant of Japan's hidden Christians who went underground amid persecution during the Edo period (1603-1867). Moriuchi, also a second-generation hibakusha, or A-bomb survivor, told Nolan about the lost bell and suggested, "How wonderful it would be if American Catholics could donate a bell."
Moved by the idea, Nolan gave lectures across the U.S., discussing the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the suffering of the survivors, the history of the hidden Christians and his desire to restore the Urakami Cathedral bell. He noted that many Americans were unaware of these facts, and donated money sometimes with tears in their eyes. More than 500 Catholic donors contributed approximately $105,000.
Nolan introduced comments that accompanied donors' gifts. One person said, "May the second Nagasaki church bell be reinstalled and ring aloud with its right sibling for the end to war and nuclear disarmament." Another remarked, "This donation for the bell is to heal the wounds of this war and progress toward world peace."
A company in St. Louis, Missouri, handled the production of the bell, and it was cast in the Netherlands. Weighing 224 kilograms and measuring 66 centimeters high and 80.7 cm in diameter, it is made of bronze, and was restored with approximately the same size, shape and design as the small bell that was in place before the bombing.
Nolan told the Mainichi Shimbun, "At the heart of the gift is our sense of sorrow for what the people of Nagasaki have suffered and our hope for reconciliation, forgiveness and peace. The gift is also an expression of our admiration, respect and gratitude for the incredible example of the Nagasaki Catholics, who throughout history endured unimaginable suffering and yet remained steadfast in their faith."
Nolan observed the May 15 unveiling online. Archbishop Michiaki Nakamura of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nagasaki stated, "The fact that a new bell will ring out has great significance for Nagasaki, Japan, the United States and the entire world. I hope it will continue to ring as a bell of prayer for the victims and for peace."
Kenichi Yamamura, the chief priest of Urakami Cathedral, added, "For us, the restoration of the bell shows the power to change what happened in the past toward a better path."
With the restoration realized, Moriuchi said, "Urakami has experienced both persecution for faith and devastation from the atomic bombing. The bell, made as a gesture of understanding for this suffering and for people to join hands, will be an asset to humanity."
Moriuchi had heard many times from his father about the aftermath of the bombing in Nagasaki and how his father baptized a schoolgirl who had collapsed on the street, and this has strengthened his desire for peace. His father also had a deep attachment to the cathedral bells, often saying, "When the two bells rang, it was magnificent."
"The ringing of the two bells means peace. I hope that the sound of the bells will give people hope and become a source of comfort," said Moriuchi, looking forward to the moment when the bells will ring together.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Kyodo News
7 hours ago
- Kyodo News
4 Japan SDF members hurt in blast near U.S. Kadena Air Base
KYODO NEWS - 13 hours ago - 21:34 | All, Japan Four Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members were slightly injured in an explosion on Monday while handling an unexploded bomb at a depot near the U.S. military's Kadena Air Base in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, local and Defense Ministry officials said. The ministry officials said the explosion occurred around 11:20 a.m. at a GSDF storage facility for unexploded bombs in Kadena Ammunition Storage Area near the base. The four members from the 101st explosive ordnance disposal unit, which defuses bombs left over from World War II, were removing rust and mud from an unexploded bomb in preparation for disposal. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries such as burns, in the first such incident experienced by the unit during their work. No evacuation order was issued for nearby residents. The U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps are in charge of the ammunition storage area, covering about 26 square kilometers as of March 2024. According to local authorities, the depot was set up by the prefecture in the storage area for the GSDF to engage in disposal of unexploded bombs. "It is crucial to take measures as many unexploded bombs are believed to be still buried in Okinawa. We will conduct disposal steadily," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference. The Self-Defense Forces carried out 1,852 disposal operations for unexploded bombs, dealing with a total of about 35 tons nationwide in fiscal 2023, including 441 operations involving about 19.7 tons in Okinawa, equivalent to about 57 percent of the total. Okinawa remains home to the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan even after its 1972 reversion from U.S. control following Japan's defeat in World War II.


The Mainichi
11 hours ago
- The Mainichi
A-bomb trees carrying on aging survivors' legacy as silent witnesses
HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) -- Looking at the leafy weeping willow standing on the banks of a serene river in Hiroshima, one would never guess it endured the blast of the U.S. atomic attack on the city almost 80 years ago in the closing days of World War II. At around 370 meters from the explosion on Aug. 6, 1945, the willow is recognized by the city government as the closest surviving tree to the hypocenter. Like many other trees, it was reduced to little more than a charred stump or bare roots at the time but demonstrated a remarkable will for life by regrowing. As atomic bomb survivors age and fewer are able to share their experiences, increasing attention has turned to these surviving trees as silent witnesses. For some, the trees may also offer a more approachable way to engage with Hiroshima's painful past. "When people talk about the atomic bombing, it often comes across as very harsh and raw -- it's a powerful and direct subject. Sometimes those stories are necessary, too. But when we use trees as a kind of buffer in the conversation, the message comes across more gently and softly," said Chikara Horiguchi, the 80-year-old master gardener of so-called atomic-bombed trees in Hiroshima. Horiguchi, a native of Miyazaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan, became Hiroshima Prefecture's first certified arborist in 1992. While he initially hoped to work with private gardens, he realized that overseeing greenery in the city is itself an act of advocating for peace. Currently, around 160 trees standing within 2 kilometers of ground zero are registered by the Hiroshima city government as remaining "survivors" of the blast, based on the testimonies of residents and on-site investigations. Demonstrating the impact of the weapons of mass destruction, a study conducted more than a decade ago found that the vast majority of single-trunk trees leant toward the hypocenter due to slower growth on the more exposed side. In some cases, the trees have served as a beacon of hope for people who experienced the tragedy. Chinese parasol trees, now taking root in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, became symbolic of survival following the testimony of Suzuko Numata, who lost her left leg in the wake of the blast and her fiance in the war. Numata, who died in 2011 at the age of 87, had devoted herself to telling visitors of how the tree had given her the will to continue living after seeing it bud again following the bombing. At that time, it was located in the courtyard of the Hiroshima post and telecommunications bureau where she worked. The "aogiri" tree, as the species is named in Japanese, was transplanted to the memorial park in 1973 from its original location 1.3 km away from the hypocenter, and became the catalyst for distributing seeds and saplings throughout the city and abroad. Efforts to spread the trees' message of peace beyond Japan have continued for over a decade under a global volunteer initiative called Green Legacy Hiroshima, which is backed by entities including a U.N. training arm in support of sustainable development goals. "I think no other living thing can convey some of the spirit of the hibaku-jumoku," said Nassrine Azimi, a co-founder of the initiative who formerly served as the first director of the Hiroshima office of U.N. Institute for Training and Research, referring to the Japanese word meaning "atomic-bombed trees." "You send a seed, you put it in a package, off it goes, and then six months later we get photos from the world," she said during a recent interview in Hiroshima. Green Legacy Hiroshima has delivered seeds of such trees to around 140 locations in over 40 countries while working with partners around the world, including an anti-nuclear weapons group in Oregon launched by Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Hideko Tamura-Snider. The 91-year-old recalled the challenges when trying to get the seed-planting project started in the northwestern U.S. state of Oregon, where she lives, noting during an online interview that "nobody was interested" at first. Thanks to her perseverance, however, there are now over 55 second-generation atomic-bombed trees planted in Oregon -- reportedly the densest population outside Japan. Tamura-Snider was just 11 years old on the day of the atomic bombing, which took the life of her mother. She moved to the United States after high school where she earned various degrees and served as a clinical social worker. Drawn into advocating peace and nuclear non-proliferation, she founded One Sunny Day Initiatives in 2007 as part of efforts to serve as a bridge between Japanese and Americans, who fought a bitter war after Japan's surprise assault on Pearl Harbor in 1941, resulting in the world's first nuclear attack. "Americans carry wounds from Pearl Harbor, and Japanese carry wounds from everything, from the war...I wanted the Americans and the Japanese to get to know each other in such a way, not as a visitor from a foreign country, but a human being," said Tamura-Snider, who has also spoken at universities and events in the United States about her wartime experience. Collaborating with Green Legacy Hiroshima since 2017 to plant seeds of peace, she said her love for trees goes back to childhood, when her grandfather, who headed a multinational corporation, had a "huge, huge garden that was like a paradise in spring." To mark the 80th anniversary of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki this year, Green Legacy Hiroshima spearheaded a planting of two saplings from Hiroshima at the U.N. headquarters in New York in May, with plans to also conduct a similar planting at the former Japanese internment camp in Manzanar in California in September. "Until recently, most of Hiroshima's efforts have been verbal or human-centered, and I think it's very nice to bring a new dimension," said Azimi. Drawing renewed attention to the surviving greenery, the Hiroshima city government has launched a new project this year to use pruned branches of atomic-bombed trees to make products that convey peace, accepting proposals from interested individuals and organizations. Beyond caring for atomic-bombed trees in Hiroshima and educating visitors to the city through tours, Horiguchi has traveled across the world, including the U.N. office at Geneva, to advocate for peace through their enduring legacy. "Every country has its own unique relationship between trees and people, but I get the sense that there's always some emotional closeness. I believe that connection is universal," said Horiguchi. "I hope people can feel, through trees, that peace is important, and that nuclear weapons are wrong." (By Donican Lam)


Asahi Shimbun
a day ago
- Asahi Shimbun
4 in Okinawa unexploded bomb disposal unit hurt in explosion
A perimeter fence around the Kadena Ammunition Storage Area in Yomitan, Okinawa Prefecture, on June 9 (Kazufumi Kaneko) Four Self-Defense Force members were slightly injured in an explosion on June 9 while handling unexploded bombs at a storage facility on Okinawa's main island. The injuries were the first for members of the 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company of the Ground SDF's 15th Brigade, which deals with at least one request per day for removing unexploded ordnance left from World War II. The explosion occurred around 11:15 a.m. at a temporary depot for unexploded bombs inside the U.S. military's Kadena Ammunition Storage Area, which straddles Yomitan village, Okinawa city, Kadena town and other municipalities, a Defense Ministry official said. The four suffered minor injuries, including burns on their fingers, which were not considered life-threatening. At the time of the explosion, the unit members were scraping rust off unexploded bombs and engaged in other work at the depot, which is managed by the Okinawa prefectural government. The Kadena Ammunition Storage Area, which spans about 2,600 hectares, includes an SDF training area and munitions depot, as well as facilities used by the prefectural government, an electric power company and other parties. The 101st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, based in the prefectural capital of Naha, defuses unexploded bombs at the sites when necessary and brings them to the depot. Okinawa, Japan's southwestern island prefecture, was the site of a fierce ground battle against the United States in the closing months of the Pacific War. It is estimated that more than 1,800 tons of unexploded bombs still remain buried at the end of 2023. Okinawa accounted for about 52 percent of all unexploded bombs that were disposed of around the country in fiscal 2023. Unexploded ordnance detonations have continued to plague Okinawans. While Okinawa was under U.S. administration through 1971, 704 people were killed by explosions and other accidents. Four people, including a small child, were killed and 34 others were injured when an unexploded bomb detonated during sewerage work in Naha in 1973. Two elementary school pupils suffered burns from an explosion in the southern part of Okinawa's main island in 1975. In 2009, a construction worker was seriously injured in an accident in Itoman in the prefecture.