Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in the U.S. state of Hawaii will conclude a sister park agreement, the Hiroshima Municipal Government has announced.
The signing of the sister deal between the two parks, both established to pass on the history of World War II, is scheduled to be held at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on June 29, the Hiroshima local government said Thursday.
Ahead of May's Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, the U.S. side had sounded out the Japanese side on the idea of establishing a sister relationship between the two parks, according to the municipal government.
Regarding the Hawaii park, which represents the memory of the Imperial Japanese Navy's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S side said that the purpose of the park is to promote peace and mutual understanding between the parties to the Pacific War, part of World War II, and that the two parks share a common goal in this regard.
Hiroshima, devastated by a U.S. atomic bombing in the closing days of the war in August 1945, decided to conclude the deal as a step toward realizing the Hiroshima Vision on nuclear disarmament, announced at the G7 summit.
"We hope the two parks will give visitors opportunities to think about the importance of peace and the stupidity of war and start taking action to realize a peaceful world without nuclear weapons," a Hiroshima municipal government official said.