The Calgary Floating Lantern Peace Ceremony started in 2013. Our aim was to bring something beautiful and tranquil to Calgary that would unite people. Together we would commemorate the lives lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki due to the atomic bombings and take a stand for peace.
What is the Calgary Floating Lantern Peace Ceremony?
It is a multi-cultural, multi-faith event in Calgary to commemorate the lives lost in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; to make a renewed commitment to the abolition of nuclear weapons; and to recognize the Mayors for Peace initiative. In 1948, the survivors and citizens of Hiroshima floated lanterns on Hiroshima’s rivers to mark the anniversary of the bombings. The floating lantern ceremony is now an annual event in Hiroshima, drawing tens of thousands to float lanterns on Motoyasu River in memory of the victims of the atomic bombings and in hopes of peace and nuclear disarmament; similar events take place in other cities around the world.
What is “Floating Lanterns (Tōrō Nagashi )”?
Symbolically, releasing floating lanterns is a traditional Japanese ceremony called “Tōrō nagashi,” with the lanterns representing the departed spirits of lives lost. People in Japan offer their prayers for bliss to the departed. This also became a ceremony to pray for people’s safety, prosperity, and happiness.
The Calgary Floating Lantern Peace Ceremony looks with hope towards a world of peace that is free from violence and nuclear weapons. This peace ceremony is held in conjunction with groups who are holding events in many of the 7,744 cities in 163 regions/countries worldwide who have joined Mayors for Peace, a group of mayors including Mayor Nenshi, who are calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Every year, two Child Diplomats are chosen to send their greeting cards to the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with a letter from the Floating Lantern Peace Ceremony Chair requesting a mayoral message. The children enjoy receiving the letters. The program is meant to help sow a seed of peace and connection to the world.
The Origin of the Paper Crane
One of the most famous origami designs is the Japanese crane – orizuru (ori- “folded,” tsuru-“crane”). The crane is auspicious in Japanese culture. Legend says that cranes are a symbol of longevity and that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will have their wish come true.
The origami crane (orizuru) has become a symbol of peace because of a young Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was exposed to the radiation of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima when she was two, and it took its inevitable toll on her health. Though severely irradiated, she survived for another ten years, becoming a hibakusha – an atomic bomb survivor or bomb-affected person. By the time she was twelve in 1955, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, hospitalized and given no more than a year to live. Several years after the atomic explosion an increase in cases of leukaemia in the general population in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was observed, especially among children. By the early 1950s, it was clear that the leukaemia was caused by the radiation exposure.
Her father told her about the legend of the cranes, so she set herself a goal of folding one thousand of them to have her wish – overcome the leukaemia – come true.
While her effort could not extend her life, after her death, Sadako’s friends and schoolmates published a collection of letters in order to raise funds to build a memorial to her and all of the children who had died from the effects of the atomic bomb. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. At the foot of the statue is a plaque that reads: “This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.”
There is also a statue of her in the Seattle Peace Park. Sadako has become a leading symbol of the devastating effects of nuclear weapons. Dedicated to Sadako, people all over Japan celebrate August 6 as the annual Peace Day.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orizuru
