Sunday August 4 2024

August 6 2023

April 18, 2021

On Friday April 16, members of the Sonoma County Peace Crane Project visited Sonoma Botanical Garden in Glen Ellen to see some special Ginkgo saplings, sprouted from seeds of a tree that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. 

The group plans to plant the Ginkgo trees on the grounds of Sonoma State University to memorialize the victims and the survivors of the nuclear bombings, nuclear tests, accidents, and contamination. The group conceived this project in partnership with Green Legacy Hiroshima, which has sent seeds to many organizations around the world.

During their visit, the group met with Michael Wenzel, Curator of Living Collections at Sonoma Botanical Garden (formerly Quarry Hill Botanical Garden), who showed off the ten robust saplings planted in 1-gallon pots. The Botanical Garden planted the seeds shipped from Hiroshima in July, 2019 and has cared for the saplings since then. 

“These trees are hardy, and often used in urban landscaping because they can survive challenging conditions,” Wenzel said, noting that Gingko trees survived atomic bombing, one of the most devastating events in human history. The Gingko biloba, an ancient species known for its longevity, can live over 1,000 years. 

When the United States bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, over 100,000 people perished instantly, mostly civilians and children. Countless more died from radiation poisoning, cancers and the utter devastation of the means of survival.

Miraculously, in the midst of such desolation a few hundred trees survived. People collected, nurtured, and propagated the seeds and trees grew again, witness to their strength, and the hope and perseverance of the human spirit.

“We are very excited to visit these special trees, which will be the central feature of a memorial to victims of the atomic bombing and their descendants,” said Sachiko Knappman, a member of Sonoma County Peace Crane Project from Rohnert Park.

Green Legacy Hiroshima is a non-profit organization, founded to safeguard and spread seeds from Hiroshima survivor trees as a message of peace. Sonoma County Peace Crane will join the 110 other communities in 36 countries in nurturing these trees as they communicate their hopeful message worldwide. 

“We are very grateful to Sonoma Botanical Garden for providing the perfect environment to grow the seeds entrusted to us, direct descendants of the trees that survived the bombings. The Botanical Garden has years of experience growing Asian trees and plants, which makes it an ideal place for the Hiroshima seeds,” said Robert Doane of Petaluma. 

Plans are underway for trees with interpretive signs and educational events. 

“We are especially excited to have the opportunity to locate the gingko trees near the existing Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Grove, which has at its heart a mature horse chestnut grown from the tree that Anne Frank could see from her place of hiding,” said Jay Pedersen from Sebastopol, a retired landscape department staff member at Sonoma State University.

The Sonoma County Peace Crane Project, founded over 35 years ago, is an all-volunteer community group with a vision of creating a world free of nuclear weapons, where people can learn to live together in harmony and peace. To raise awareness about nuclear issues, the group has organized exhibits, cultural events, youth essays and art contests. 

In spite of the pandemic and the obstacles it has brought, planning and preparation for the creation of a Peace Tree memorial dedicated to a nuclear free world are ongoing by the dedicated volunteers. 

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August 5, 2020

This August marks 75 years of peace since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

To commemorate this important milestone, Sonoma County JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) is promoting a project called “Let’s Ring Bells of Peace”. It is spearheaded by Sebastopol World Friends (SWF), Sebastopol’s sister city organization. The project is asking the public across the U.S. and Japan to ring a bell simultaneously on the date and time when the atomic bombings happened 75 years ago.

In solidarity with SWF, Sonoma County JACL will be hosting two Zoom events for our members and friends at the following dates and times:

• Wednesday 8/5 Zoom starting at 4:00 PM Bell ringing at 4:15 PM (US PDT) – to coincide with the actual date and time the bomb fell on Hiroshima (8/6 at 8:15am in Japan)
• Saturday 8/8 Zoom starting at 6:45 PM Bell ringing at 7:02 PM (US PDT) – to coincide with the actual date and time the bomb fell on Nagasaki (8/9 at 11:02am in Japan)

During the bell ringing, you are welcome to ring your own bell at home. Before and after the bell-ringing, we will have selected speakers. The two events will have different programs and you are welcome to join just one or both.

Anyone wishing to attend the JACL Zoom sessions, please email Phyllis Tajii at phyllistajii@gmail.com and indicate which session you would like to attend. We will send you the Zoom link prior to the event.

Commemorating this important moment, at different locations but together in spirit, will be a powerful gesture of our commitment to world peace. Your participation would be meaningful and greatly appreciated. Together we can show the world hope, especially during these uncertain times.

For anyone who would like to commemorate the anniversary individually, please send your videos and/or photos of your commemoration to Sebastopol World Friends! See SWF’s facebook page for more information.

Please let your creative and artistic friends and students know about this contest. Download flyer here.

Winners of 2018 Youth Art Contest

Last year, Peace Crane Project launched a poster art contest in hopes of engaging the younger generation on nuclear issues.

Jr. high and high school students throughout Marin/Napa/Sonoma Counties were invited to submit their original artworks for this poster art contest.

The contest was juried by artists and community leaders including Elizabeth Clary and Michael Cheney from Alchemia Gallery and Studio, John Bertucci of Petaluma Public Access Media and Fukushima Response, Mario Uribe, an artist based in Santa Rosa, and Lina Hoshino and Phyllis Tajii of Peace Crane Project. The submissions were evaluated based on the artists’ technique, originality, theme and expression.

See who won here.

Enter 2019 contest here.

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Save the date: Join us on August 4, 2019 at the Nuclear Remembrance Day

Sonoma County Peace Crane Project presents Nuclear Remembrance Day: Picture a World Free of Nuclear Weapons on August 4, 2019. The event will happen in Helen Putnam Plaza, downtown Petaluma, from 11:30-3:30 pm. Admission is free and donations are appreciated.

Many activities will be offered during the day: Interfaith opening prayer and incense offering; music performance by Elliot Kallen; dance performance by Ten Ten Taiko; Japanese Tea Ceremony by Sachiko Knappman; free origami workshop; Hiroshima Mayors for Peace Exhibit; Japanese Prayer Plaque Workshop (Ema); the folding of a 6’ origami crane; and an awards ceremony celebrating the high school and middle school winners of the Peace Crane Project’s youth poster art contest, with the theme, Picture a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.

This event occurs during this period of heightened tension and fear of nuclear war.
It commemorates the 74th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

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“Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are not utopian ideals.
They are critical to global peace and security.”
— Ban Ki-moon, 8th  Secretary-General of the United Nations

RULES

Artwork must be original, submitted by the artist. File type: JPEG, PNG or PDF  (11” x 17”) vector art or 300 dpi file accepted. File size must not exceed 10 megabytes.  Art must be two dimensional, created using either traditional methods (pencils, paint, etc) or digital. Up to two entries are allowed if concept posters differ from each other.

To apply you must be a student (grades 6-12) in Napa, Sonoma or Marin Counties.

PRIZES
Middle School (grades 6 – 8)
First Prize:  $150
Second Prize: $75

High School (grades 9 – 12)
First Prize:  $200
Second Prize: $100

DEADLINE

June 15, 2019

HOW TO ENTER

• Submit your work online here
• Download PDF flyer 

JURY

Local artists will judge entries on creativity, theme, composition and technique. Awards will be presented on August 4, 2019 at a Peace Crane Project event in Petaluma near the anniversary of the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

CONTACT

For questions about the contest, email peacecraneproject@sonic.net

ABOUT PEACE CRANE PROJECT
The Peace Crane Project is a Sonoma County peace group, that aims to raise awareness of the need for nuclear disarmament and to inspire people to add their voices to promote a world free of nuclear weapons.

Where: Helen Putnam Plaza, downtown Petaluma
When: August 5, 11:30-3:30 pm
Admission: free.  donations appreciated

Many activities will be offered during the day: Interfaith opening prayer and incense offering; music performance by Elliot Kallen; dance performance by Ten Ten Taiko; Japanese Tea Ceremony by Sachiko Knappman; free origami workshop; Hiroshima Mayors for Peace Exhibit; Japanese Prayer Plaque Workshop (Ema); the folding of a 6’ origami crane; and an awards ceremony celebrating the high school and middle school winners of the Peace Crane Project’s youth poster art contest, with the theme, Picture a World Free of Nuclear Weapons.

This event occurs during this period of heightened tension and fear of nuclear war.
It commemorates the 73rd anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

The city of Petaluma is a member of Mayors for Peace since 2012. The Mayors for Peace, through close cooperation among the cities, strives to raise international public awareness regarding the need to abolish nuclear weapons and contributes to the realization of genuine and lasting world peace by working to eliminate starvation and poverty, assist refugees fleeing local conflict, support human rights, protect the environment, and solve the other problems that threaten peaceful coexistence within the human family.

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Highlights of the event

Mayors for Peace Poster Exhibit on Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Viewers will encounter terrible damage wrought on by  the atomic bombing. “We hope this encounter will help you understand that nuclear weapons are absolute evil leading the human race toward extinction” wrote Matsui Kazumi, Hiroshima Mayor and Taue Tomihisa, Mayor of Nagasaki

Sachiko Knappman and Japanese Tea Ceremony
Japanese Tea Ceremony was developed into a spiritual practice in the mid 1500’s in Japan during the civil war period, which lasted almost 200 years. There was a strong Zen Buddhist influence on mindfulness and ritualistic movements that emphasized oneness with the present moment that was shared with a host and guests.

In Japan, tea made from this ritual is often used as an offering for temple altars and for the spirits of the deceased. Today we are honoring those who were impacted by the nuclear bombings, contamination and accidents.
Sachiko Knappman has been practicing tea ceremony as her spiritual practice for about 15 years and performs demonstrations at schools in Sonoma County.

Make an “Ema” – Peace Wishing Plaque
Ema draws on the Japanese tradition of  creating a wooden prayer/wishing plaque
on which people write prayers or wishes, and leave them at shrines for kami (spirits) to receive them.
People are invited to write wishes for peace on the wooden plaques which will be displayed at future Peace Crane Project events.
The ultimate goal is to display them around a descendant of a tree that survived the bombing of Hiroshima.

Free origami workshop
Learn how to fold origami cranes.
When Sadako was only two years old, she was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, in Japan.
She attempted to fold 1,000 origami cranes in the 1950s, in hopes of recovering her health as she suffered from leukemia. Unfortunately, she was not able to finish folding a 1000 cranes but her classmates helped finish folding them for her. Since then, origami crane has become a symbol of peace, a prayer for a nuclear free world.

Award ceremony for the first annual Youth Art Contest
“Picture a world free of nuclear weapons”
Peace Crane Project organized the first annual youth art contest in hopes of engaging the younger generation in learning about nuclear issues.

Junior high and high school students’s art works were juried by a team of local art community including members of Peace Crane Project, Alchemia Gallery, artist Mario Uribe and John Bertucci of Fukushima Response/Petaluma Community Access Television. Winners will receive a cash prize.

Ten Ten Taiko
Sonoma County based group, Ten Ten Taiko will be performing a traditional Japanese drum dance performance
at the event. Ten Ten Taiko is led by Hiroko Honton.

Shakuhachi flute performance by Elliot Kallen
Initially trained as a concert pianist, Elliot Kallen migrated into the world of Rock and Jazz, playing keyboards for many bands and on many stages. A chance encounter led him to the Japanese bamboo flute. He is a long-time student of David Kansuke Wheeler of Boulder, CO. Elliot also studies with Kansuke’s teacher, Junsuke Kawase III, the third-generation head of Chikuyusha, the largest shakuhachi teaching organization of its kind in Japan. Elliot plays shakuhachi in a wide variety of contexts, from traditional Japanese music with koto and shamisen, to the exploratory sounds of the avant guard. He is also a founding member of TenTen Taiko, performing throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Elliot is the current President of the International Shakuhachi Society (see www.komuso.com). He performs, teaches, and gives lectures on Japanese classical music and the shakuhachi from his home base in Northern California.

Carol Kawase, 6ft Origami Folding

Carol Kawase will be folding a giant peace crane with 6 ft square paper.

Elliot Kallen, Shakuhachi flute master
Elliot Kallen plays the shakuhachi, a traditional, end-blown bamboo flute from Japan. He is part of a lineage that has its roots in the music of the Komusō, the itinerant Zen monks who used the shakuhachi as a tool for meditation over 400 years ago. He frequently performs with shamisen and koto players showcasing traditional Japanese ensemble music and explores the use of the shakuhachi in a wide variety of non-traditional contexts. Elliot performs, teaches, and lectures about Japanese music regularly throughout the Bay Area and beyond.TenTen Taiko Lead by Hiroko Honton, Sonoma County’s TenTen Taiko has been performing together since 2006. TenTen, with one exception (the flute player), is an all-woman taiko group based in Petaluma. For today’s event they will perform a Kagura (Shinto ritual dance) that is rarely seen outside of Japan. In this piece, Ebisu (the god of fisherman), and his father, Daikoku (the god of prosperity), decide to go fishing. They perform a dance together, then offer treats and candy to the audience to curry good favor among the other gods that their fishing will be successful.   Fukushima Response Fukushima Response will have an information table offering Geigercounter demonstrations.