On 6 May a Peace Bell Ceremony was held at United Nations Headquarters to commemorate the return of the Peace Bell to the Japanese Garden. The Peace Bell was temporarily relocated to the UN Rose Garden during the renovation of the United Nations Headquarters Complex under the Capital Master Plan between 2009 and 2014. Upon completion of the renovation project, the Peace Bell returned to the Japanese Garden.
The ceremony was attended by Ambassador Yoshikawa and Madame Yoshikawa, UN Secretary-General H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon and Madame Ban Soon-taek, President of the 69th Session of the General Assembly H.E. Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa, and many Permanent Representatives and officials of the UN Secretariat. The children of the late Mr. Chiyoji Nakagawa, who donated the Peace Bell to the United Nations, were also in attendance, as well as other guests involved with the Peace Bell who traveled from Japan to attend the ceremony.
To kick off the event, the United Nations International School Choir performed John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Ambassador Yoshikawa, the Secretary-General and the President of the 69th Session of the General Assembly gave remarks calling for world peace, each ringing the bell following his statement. The Tarumi Violin Children’s Foundation for the Arts closed the ceremony with a brief musical medley.
Remarks by Ambassador Yoshikawa
At the 6 May Peace Bell Ceremony
The Peace Bell
The Peace Bell was donated to the United Nations by the United Nations Association of Japan in June of 1954.
The idea to donate a bell to the United Nations was first proposed by the late Mr. Chiyoji Nakagawa, an executive member of the United Nations Association of Japan and observer during the 6th session of the General Assembly in Paris in 1951, when Japan submitted its application to join the United Nations. Mr. Nakagawa proposed building the bell as a symbol of peace. Two years later in 1956, Japan became the 80th member of the United Nations.
The bell was cast from coins and medals donated by citizens not only from Japan, but also the representatives of U.N. Member States, Pope Pius XII and people from more than 60 countries.
It has become tradition to ring the bell twice a year; on the first day of spring at the Vernal Equinox, and on 21 September to celebrate the International Day of Peace. On the International Day of Peace, the United Nations Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly ring the bell to pray for World Peace.
The Japanese Garden
In 2000, the location of the Peace Bell was transformed into a Japanese Garden, using funds donated by the Japanese people living both in Japan and New York through “The Committee for the Peace Bell Garden.”
The Japanese Garden officially opened on 14 September 2000, and in attendance were former Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono.
The Japanese Garden provides a stage for demonstrating a unified call for peace. Symbolically, the Garden and the layout of its components present the mythological universe, our physical world, and the United Nation’s flag.
During the historic renovation of the United Nations Headquarters Complex from 2009 to 2014, the Japanese Garden was damaged but was repaired with funds from the “Trust Fund for Restoration and Maintenance of the Peace Bell”.
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