Nagasaki Day prayers at London Peace Pagoda

The 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki was commemorated in London yesterday with a procession from the Sacred Heart chapel in Horseferry Road to the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park, led by Buddhist monk the Rev Gyoro Nagase with other members of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order and representatives from several London churches. There were interfaith prayers and ceremonies for the 74,000 people who died in the bombing in 1945 and prayers for peace in the world.

Fr Alan Gadd, from the South London Interfaith group led one prayer. Bruce Kent, Vice President of Pax Christi & CND praised those who had fought against nuclear weapons, in particular Professor Joseph Rotblat, the nuclear physicist and Nobel peace Laureate who dedicated his life to peace. Bruce Kent urged all present to campaign against the renewal of the Trident nuclear programme.

Japanese peace activist Mr Shigeo Kobayashi expressed his concern about the present government in Japan which is calling for the pacifist constitution to be dropped and for the country to be rearmed. He also voiced fears about the use of nuclear energy in Japan - particularly in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

Singer Brigette Benett sang a moving peace anthem as the sun set. Participants then carried colourful paper lanterns representing the souls of the dead, down to the River Thames, where they were set afloat.

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