Tag Archives: Nuclear Legacy

From Hiroshima to Hope 2025

August 6, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, followed by the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9.

From Hiroshima to Hope is a nonprofit organization in Seattle, WA, dedicated to commemorating the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all victims of war and violence. Each year on August 6, the organization sponsors an event at Green Lake, Seattle, that includes speakers, music, dance, art, and lantern floating (Toro Nagashi).

The Heron Siege Peace Procession is inspired by peace dances at Buddhist Temples in Asakusa Tokyo. The costumes were designed by artist Chantal Uto. A siege is a persistent effort to overcome; it is also the name of a group of herons. Hence, herons are a symbol of perserverance. The Kintsugi Somatic Art group is encouraging perserverance for peace.

Blades of Change is an equitable arts and community storytelling initiative transforming industrial nuclear fan blades into monumental canvasas for artists. The nuclear fan blads (6×4 feet) originated at the never-completed Satsop Nuclear Power Plant in Elma, WA.

“The Wild Rose of Hiroshima” is etched with paper cranes and crowned in native plants from Wanapum land. The wild rose is a symbol of protection and cleansing. The figure honors Sadako Sasaki and contains further images that link Hiroshima and Hanford, WA. This blade was created by Lauren Iida and Johnny Buck.

Little Boy and banner — “Little Boy” sculpture and organization banner.

Yukiyo Kawano is a third generation hibakusha (nuclear bomb survivor). In her sculpture “Little Boy (folded)”, ishe has sewn silk kimono fabric with strands of her hair (to include her DNA as a third generation hibakusha) to form a suspended full-scale sculpture of Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The lantern floating ceremony is an adaptation of an ancient Japanese Buddhist ritual, the Toro Nagashi, in which lanterns representing the spirits of the dead are floated out to sea and prayers are offered that they might rest in peace. The ceremony is in remembrance of the victims of the atomic bombings. In Seattle, the lanterns have come to represent not only those victims but also those who have died in violent conflict anywhere. The calligraphers of Beikoko Shodo Kenkyukai prepared many lantern sleeves with words of remembrance, peace, and hope.

The procession to launch the lanterns in Green Lake, Seattle, WA, was led by Norimitsu Tosu, a hibakusha (survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb). Mr. Tosu and his son, Fumiaki Tosu, brought a young adult pilgrimage (The Fierce Nonviolence Pilgrimage) from Spokane focused on nonviolence and nuclear abolition.

Lantern Floating in Green Lake, Seattle, WA

Launching the floating lanterns in Green Lake, Seattle

Volunteers launched the floating lanterns into Green Lake, Seattle, WA, on the public dock on behalf of the attendees.

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This month’s featured image looks southeast across the Columbia River to the B Reactor on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the Hanford Reach.

The Hanford Reach is a free-flowing section of the Columbia River which is the only section that is not tidal nor part of a reservoir. Most of this flows through the Hanford Site. The Reach was created as a National Monument in 2000 encompassing the original security buffer surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The image was taken from a pullout on northbound WA-24 on the north side of the Columbia River, just east of the Vernita Bridge. From this vantage point, visitors can see nearly all of the remaining buildings, processing plants, and reactors of the Hanford Site.

Also this month, you’ll find some interesting atomic events that occured in April over the years as well as 88 atomic shots that occured organized by day.

If you visit the Hanford Reach, be sure to visit the REACH museum in Richland which provides geographical, biological, and historical displays of the area from Ancestral land usage, through early settlements, to the Manhattan Project, and current communities and wildlife.

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March’s calendar features the M65 Atomic Cannon (“Atomic Annie”) which is right off I-70 outside Junction City, Kansas. This view shows Fort Riley in the distance. The calendar also features some interesting March Atomic Events as well as a complete listing of all atomic shots during March from 1955 through 1984.

This Atomic Annie is located in Freedom Park near Junction City, Kansas, at exit 301 on I-70. The trail to the top of the hill with the cannon has recently been improved and was reopened for visitors.

Atomic Annie Kansas — M65 Atomic Cannon (“Atomic Annie”) atop a hill in Freedom Park, Junction City, Kansas

The M65 Atomic Cannon was built by the United States and capable of firing a nuclear device. It was developed in the 1950s during the Cold War and fielded between April 1955 to December 1962 in West Germany, South Korea, and on Okinawa.

On May 25, 1953, the Atomic Annie was tested at the Nevada Test Site as part of the Upshot-Knothole series of nuclear tests. Codenamed “Grable,” it resulted in the detonation of a 15kt shell at a range of 7 miles. This was the first and only nuclear shell to be fired from the cannon.

Of the 20 M65s produced, seven are on display. Only two have their original prime movers:

United States Army Field Artillery Museum, Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This is the original cannon fired with the live nuclear shot. Restored in 2010, original prime movers were restored and added.
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in their Heritage Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico
United States Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center, Petersburg, Virginia

Atomic Annie in Albuquerque — Atomic Annie at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Albuquerque, NM

You can visit any of these Atomic Annie cannons. However, if you’d like to visit the one featured, and you’re traveling through Kansas, be sure to stop and take the hike to the top of the hill.

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