This Event has Passed
HONORING 80 YEARS SINCE THE ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI
The ceremony and exhibit opening will feature a formal Hawaiian and Japanese blessing, remarks from leaders representing the City and County of Honolulu and the City of Hiroshima, and a rare live testimony from an atomic bomb survivor, offering attendees a profound opportunity to reflect on the tragedy of nuclear warfare and reaffirm a shared global commitment to peace.
Two Oʻahu high school students, Chloe Tonda of Punahou School and Mia Nishiguchi of Kalani High School, will also speak at the ceremony. Both are recipients of the Hiroshima Peace Scholarship, presented by the Japan-America Society of Hawaiʻi. Their reflections, shaped by a recent 10-day educational journey to Hiroshima that included a visit to the Peace Memorial Museum on the 80th anniversary, will bring a new generation’s voice to this powerful moment of remembrance.
A highlight of the event will be the live testimony of Ms. Sadae Kasaoka, a hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor), who was 12 years old and in her first year of girls’ high school when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. At the time of the explosion, she was at home, approximately 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) from the hypocenter.
The new onboard exhibit, White Flash, Black Rain, opens August 12 and will be on display through February 2026. Featuring rare artifacts on loan from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, the exhibit offers a powerful look at the human impact of nuclear warfare.
Among the items on display are paper cranes folded by Sadako Sasaki, a young victim of the atomic bombings, and by former President Barack Obama, symbols of hope, healing, and peace.
This solemn commemoration honors the lives lost and forever changed by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Through the lens of testimony and education, this ceremony seeks to inspire dialogue, remembrance, and the pursuit of peace, 80 years later.
