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| Bell of Peace, a gift from Japan on the fiftieth anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, constructed using traditional nail-less Japanese woodworking techniques by Japanese craftsmen. |
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Japan's "Bell of Peace".
Beautiful wood craftsmanship.
No nails -- termites, "tags".
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On the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, in 1991, two craftsmen from Japan came to Neal S. Blaisdell Park to assemble the Bell of Peace that stands here today. They used traditional construction methods, carefully interlocking the wood to secure it without any nails.
A poem about Pearl Harbor by Bishop Ekan Ikeguchi who sponsored the bell's construction is engraved on an aging stone:
"Clouds! Winds! Waves!
Only you know of the days long past.
When the sky burned, the earth was razed.
Columns of water spewed high
In the sky from the sea.
Oh, the foolishness of war!
Oh, the fruitlessness of war!
Who is it now that opens the door to peace?
Who is it now that shade the flag of peace?
It's you, me, and all the people in the world.
Peace sprouts from the heart of each of us.
Peace is what each of us earnestly plays for.
Clouds! Wind! Waves!
To you we swear that never again will we repeat
The hellish scenes of burning sky razed land
Seas spewing columns of water high in the sky.
Let the Bell of Peace ring and echo loudly and widely
Until the whole earth is tinted with a rosy hue."
The State legislature apparently passed a resolution in 2007 declaring September 21 Peace Day, making Hawaii the first state to recognize the United Nations' International Day of Peace that over 200 countries (as of 2008) already observe.
There is no longer a mallet there to ring the bell. Graffiti continues to be a problem, as do termites. Let's hope the City tents this sooner than later to minimize the damage.
Source: Star Bulletin 9/20/08 "Peace of Mind: Students from Pacific Buddhist Academy restore the neglected and defaced Peace Bell" by Mary Adamski, and on-site information.