JAPAN TODAY / KYODO NEWS

'Stone Walk' leaves Nagasaki for Hiroshima to remember war victims

Saturday July 2nd, 2005

(Kyodo) _ A group of volunteers conducting a "stone walk" in commemoration of all unknown civilians killed in wars, left Nagasaki Peace Park on Saturday to carry a 700-kilogram memorial stone to Hiroshima.

The first stone walk was organized in 1999 by a U.S. civic group. So far, four walks have been staged in the United States, Britain and Ireland.

Peaceful Tomorrows, an advocacy group founded by family members of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, joined the campaign last year. The organizers decided to hold the walk in Japan this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Japanese and foreign volunteers will carry the stone mounted on a cart for the 600-kilometer trek to Hiroshima, which will take about a month.

The group will walk through Saga, Fukuoka and Yamaguchi prefectures before arriving Aug. 4 at Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Gembaku Dome) in time for the 60th anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945 atomic attack.

Organizers have expressed hope that the stone will be kept in Hiroshima City.