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Peace ceremony held on Tinian last Aug. 9
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Posted on Aug 15 2017
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- From left to right: Japan Consul Kinji Shinoda, Connie San Nicolas, Tinian and Aguiguan Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas, and Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) participate in the dedication of flowers at the Tinian Peace Monument. (Contributed Photo)
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- Tinian residents release lanterns into the water at Kammer Beach. (Contributed Photo)
Tinian and Aguiguan Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas hosted the Tinian Peace Ceremony at the Tinian Peace Monument in San Jose last Wednesday. This year’s event, held 72 years to the day of the bombing of Nagasaki, follows a long-standing tradition of peace ceremonies held at the garden.
“For over a decade, our community has gathered here at the Tinian Peace Monument each August to affirm our commitment to peace,” said San Nicolas in his welcoming remarks. “Although we are a small part of the global community, our involvement and experience during World War II makes our presence here today all the more meaningful… our support for this cause has become especially important in the present day and age, when images and news of conflict flood our news feeds.”
Among the event’s distinguished guests were Kinji Shinoda, Japan consul to the CNMI, and Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP). The event marked Sablan’s first time ever to attend the peace ceremony on Tinian.
Accompanied by Sablan, Shinoda, and the Tinian Leadership, mayor and Mrs. San Nicolas offered a dedication of flowers and led a silent prayer for the victims of nuclear warfare, and for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. These gestures mirror those of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, held annually on Aug. 7 at the Hiroshima Peace Park.
The peace ceremony was well attended by members of the Tinian Japanese community, the Tinian Jr./Sr. High School’s Japan Club, and island’s man’amko. Many more of Tinian’s residents and youth participated in the evening portion of the peace ceremony, during which 300 lanterns were released at Kammer Beach in memory of the lives lost in the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Both San Nicolas and Shinoda expressed their hope that future leaders continue the tradition of the Tinian Peace Ceremony, and that Tinian and Japan can strengthen their ties through the joint promotion of peace. (PR)
