Hiroshima Day 2013

Toronto commemoration

The 2013 commemorations in Toronto were held in Nathan Phillips Square (Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St W, Toronto) on Hiroshima Day, Tuesday August 6, starting 6:45pm.

Our featured speaker is Shirley Douglas.

The programme also includes readings of the Hiroshima and Toronto Peace Declarations; performances by Tabby Johnson, the Yakudo Drummers, and the Raging Grannies; and a lantern ceremony.

The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Poster & Survivors' Artwork Display showed in the Toronto City Hall Rotunda from Tuesday August 6 until Friday August 9, from 9am to 5pm.

Trudeau Centre panel, 14 March 2013

The Trudeau Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies and The George Ignatieff Chair in Peace & Conflict Studies presented:

Japanese Experiences with Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Past, Present, and Future of Peacebuilding and Justice in the 21st Century

March 14, 2013 1:00-3:30pm

Location: Campbell Conference Facility, Munk School of Global Affairs, 1 Devonshire Place

1:00 Welcome Remarks

Dr. Ron Levi & Dr. Wendy Wong

1:10 – 2:20 Panel discussion: “Japanese Experiences with the Bomb: History, Memory, and the Future”

• Mrs. Setsuko Thurlow, Activist
• Dr. Chandler Davis, Professor Emeritus
• Mr. Roger Spottiswoode, Director
• Moderated by: Dr. Takashi Fujitani, Professor=

2:20-2:30 Closing remarks
Dr. Janice Stein

2:30-3:30 Reception

We are pleased to feature a number of photographs of the sites and artwork made by survivors; generously on loan from the Hiroshima Day Coalition

Biographies

Mrs. Setsuko Thurlow (Activist)

As a 13-year old schoolgirl, Setsuko Thurlow found herself in close proximity to the hypocentre of the atomic blast that rocked Hiroshima. A survivor of one of the most pivotal events in modern history, she displayed great courage and leadership, sharing her experiences in order to sensitize us to the consequences of armed conflict on civilian populations and to promote lasting peace. After relocating to Toronto, she joined forces with the mayors of Toronto, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to establish the Peace Garden in Nathan Phillips Square. Over the years, she has served with a number of organizations, including Voices of Women, the Canadian Council of Churches, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, continuing her journey from victim to activist. This journey has included several decades of close involvement with the Hiroshima Day Coalition.

Dr. Chandler Davis (Professor Emeritus)

Chandler Davis is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Toronto, a writer, an activist and Science for Peace Treasurer. Dr. Davis has published science fiction stories, is the editor of The Mathematical Intelligencer and is an innovator in the theory of operators and matrices. During World War II, Dr. Davis joined the Navy and worked on the minesweeping research program. By the end of the war, with the saturation bombings of Dresden and Tokyo, as well as the dropping of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he came to regret his service in the military. He has spent most of his life working in a variety of anti-war and anti-nuclear movements.

Mr. Roger Spottiswoode (Filmmaker and Director, Hiroshima)

Mr. Roger Spottiswoode has been directing feature films for nearly thirty years, including popular hits like Turner and Hooch (1989), Air America (1990), and the James Bond adventure Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), as well as outstanding dramas like And the Band Played On (1993), Hiroshima (1995), Noriega (2000), and Shake Hands with the Devil (2007). Film: Hiroshima is a 1995 Japanese / Canadian film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and Roger Spottiswoode about the decision-making processes that led to the dropping of the atomic bombs by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the end of World War II. Except as actors, no Americans took part in the production. The three-hour film was made for television (Showtime Network) and evidently had no theatrical release, but is available on DVD for home viewing. A combination of dramatisation, historical footage, and eyewitness interviews, the film alternates between documentary footage and the dramatic recreations. Both the dramatisations and most of the original footage are presented as sepia-toned images, serving to blur the distinction between them. The languages are English and Japanese, with subtitles, and the actors are largely Canadian and Japanese.

Moderator: Dr. Takashi Fujitani

Dr. Takashi Fujitani is the Dr. David Chu Professor and Director in Asia Pacific Studies. His research focuses especially on modern and contemporary Japanese history, East Asian history, Asian American history, and transnational history (primarily U.S./Japan and Asia Pacific). Much of his past and current research has centered on the intersections of nationalism, colonialism, war, memory, racism, ethnicity, and gender, as well as the disciplinary and area studies boundaries that have figured our ways of studying these issues. He is currently working on a book that assesses the location of the Japanese monarchy in contemporary Japanese understandings and contestations over the meaning of the nation, gender, race, globalization, and the past.

Across Canada events

North Bay, ON

August 6 2013 at 8 am
Regis Parkette at the corner of Main and Fraser Streets | Webpage | Poster

Ottawa, ON

August 6 2013 at 7:30 pm
Friends Meeting House, 91 1/2 Fourth Ave

Oakville, ON

August 9 2013 at 7:30 pm
St. Jude's Garden, 160 William Street

Hamilton, ON

August 9 2013 at 12 noon
Peace Pole, behind city Hall, 71 Main St. West | Poster

Saskatoon, SK

August 6 2013 at 7 pm
Rotary Park Peace Pole

Calgary, AB

August 9 2013 at 8 pm
Olympic Plaza, 8th Ave SW | Poster

Nanaimo, BC

August 6 2013 at 9 pm
Swa a lana lagoon at Maffeo Sutton Park | Webpage

Salt Spring Island, BC

August 6 2013 at 5:30 pm
Peace Park, Ganges (across from ArtSpring) | Community calendar page