August 6th, 2003
On the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima (August 6th), they hold a ceremony in which lanterns are sent floating along the Motoyasu-gawa River, in front of the A-bomb Dome. The lanterns used to float out to ocean. Nowadays they are caught down river for environmental reasons. This is done in remembrance of those whose lives were lost and in hopes that all nuclear weapons will be destroyed. The floating of the lanterns lasted for 3 hours.
It was a somber evening and a beautiful expression in the struggle for the worldwide disarmament of nuclear weapons, if not world peace and a clear reminder of what the opposite can lead to.