News Release 

CONTACT: 

Robert Watada, Event organizer

Helen Liu, Asian American Council of Oregon, info@asiancouncil.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki 

80th Anniversary Commemoration on August 6 at Alton Baker Park 7:00-8:30 p.m. 

EUGENE, OR — The public is invited to the annual Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at the Alton Baker Park Peace Pavilion from 7:00 to 8:45 p.m. to honor the victims of the atomic bombings in Japan. 

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which claimed more than 200,000 lives and left countless others affected by the nuclear devastation. 

This year’s commemoration also celebrates the Japanese grassroots survivor organization Nihon Hidankyo, awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize for its decades-long advocacy using personal testimonies of Hibakusha, (atomic bomb survivors), to stigmatize the use of nuclear weapons as unacceptable. 

“Let not humanity destroy itself with nuclear weapons,” declared Terumi Tanaka, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on behalf of Nihon Hidankyo, in his acceptance lecture to the Nobel Peace Prize audience, December 2024. View Nihon Hidankyo’s global efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons, and Nobel Award Ceremony Speech. 

Jigme Trinley Rinpoche, founder and director of the Palmo Peace and Education Center in Cottage Grove, will speak about compassion and the need for a clear path to nuclear nonproliferation. 

In a message sent for Eugene’s commemorative event, Hideko Tamura Snider, a Hiroshima survivor, author, and peace advocate, and Medford, OR resident, calls on all to remember: 

“Let us not forget.” 

Hideko’s organization, One Sunny Day Initiative, gifted the Hiroshima Peace Tree to the City of Eugene in 2019, planting it in Alton Baker Park as a living symbol of resilience and hope. The tree was grown from a seed of a persimmon tree that survived the Hiroshima blast.

The event opens at 7:00 p.m. with Eugene Taiko drumming and concludes at dusk with a floating lantern ceremony honoring those who perished. Each lantern also represents a personal commitment to advocate for peace. 

In addition to origami and calligraphy activities, the evening will include: 

Program Schedule: 

7:00 p.m. – Taiko Drumming Opening Ceremony 

7:15 p.m. – Kitty Piercy, Welcome by former Eugene Mayor 

7:25 p.m. – Rev. Mark Unno, Prayer to Ancestors 

7:30 p.m. – Jigme Trinley Rinpoche, Dir. of Palmo Peace Education Center, Cottage Grove to speak on Peace through nonproliferation 

– Message from Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson 

– Message from Hideko Tamara Snider, 

– Sponsor acknowledgement 

7:50 p.m. Obon Dance 

8:15 p.m. – Taiko Procession to Lantern Ceremony 

8:30 p.m. – Lantern Floating Ceremony 

The annual commemoration is presented by the Asian American Council of Oregon in partnership with the City of Eugene.