Oregon PSR and our community partner organizations have begun planning the annual Portland-area memorial of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which this year will be held on Friday, August 6th beginning at 6:00 PM at the Japanese American Historical Plaza at Waterfront Park in downtown Portland (NW Naito Parkway & Couch Street).
In response to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s event will be a little different. It will include a brief ceremonial gathering at the Japanese American Historical Plaza featuring Rev. Eisei Ikenaga of Portland’s Nichiren Buddhist Temple. Following the remembrance ceremony, we will walk about two blocks to the Japanese American Museum of Oregon Annex (121 NW 2nd Avenue) for an exhibit called We Hold Sacred curated by Oregon PSR Advisory Board members Chisao Hata and Yukiyo Kawano. We Hold Sacred will also be open on August 7th and 8th from noon until 3:00 PM.
We have reached capacity for the August 6th memorial ceremony and exhibit opening night. We may have last-minute cancellations, though, so contact us to be added to the waiting list. Please visit our Facebook page on August 6th to watch the event livestream.
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Chisao Hata and Yukiyo Kawano have co-created the We Hold Sacred exhibit at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon Annex, formerly known as the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, in Portland's historic Old Town. This neighborhood was once known as Nihonmachi, or Japantown, before its erasure resulting from Executive Order 9066, which established the American concentration camps that held over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry and Japanese-American citizens between 1942 and 1946.
At this historically significant location, and in commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, We Hold Sacred explores the history of anti-nuclear activism through art and memory and by uplifting the historic nuclear justice movements led by people of color. This exhibit asks us "to renew our commitment to Mother Earth, ecological unity, and the interdependence of all species" in accordance with the 1st Principle of the Preamble of the 1991 People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit).
Learn more about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons, and the movement for nuclear justice.
NW Naito Parkway & Couch Street
Portland, OR 97209
United States
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