About 300 people gathered Wednesday in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, to sing Mozart's "Requiem" to mark the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
After observing a minute of silence, the singers started their performance of the 45-minute work at 8:46 a.m.
That was the time of day in New York when the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center in New York one year ago.
The event is part of the worldwide "Rolling Requiem" initiated by members of the Seattle Symphony Chorale. More than 180 choirs in 26 countries and 20 time zones were expected to participate in the commemorative event.
About 200 residents from Hyogo and Osaka prefectures applied for 100 choral slots alongside members of a choir formed in memory of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
The participants -- including office workers, housewives, high school students and the elderly -- each wore a paper badge bearing the name of a victim.
An Osaka-based association of choirs in the Kansai region asked the choir that sings the "Requiem" every year for the victims of the 1995 earthquake to participate in the event.
"Victims of the terror attacks and earthquake were regrettably killed," event chairman Koichiro Okazaki said. "As a mission for those who are living, I wanted to do something to pay tribute to the memory of the victims."
