New Nagasaki bell a ‘symbol of peace, unity, hope’ for Japan

Nagasaki, Japan: After the arrival of a new bell to replace the one damaged in the 1945 atomic bombing, the two bells at Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki...

Nagasaki, Japan: After the arrival of a new bell to replace the one damaged in the 1945 atomic bombing, the two bells at Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki are set to ring out today, to mark 80 years since the bombing.

The cathedral and its two towers, about 500 meters from the hypocenter, collapsed in the bombing on August 9, 1945. The north tower’s bell fell into a nearby river and was severely damaged. The south tower’s bell was found nearly intact in the rubble and was hung in the tower when the cathedral was rebuilt in 1959. The north tower remained without a bell.

The new bell was donated as part of a project launched by James L. Nolan Jr., a professor at Williams College in the United States. The 62-year-old is the grandson of James F. Nolan, who was involved in the Manhattan Project, a US program for the research and development of atomic bombs.

Nolan Jr. started the project after meeting Kojiro Moriuchi, a second-generation atomic bomb survivor from Nagasaki. On July 17, the two rang the new bell together at a ceremony marking the restoration of the bell.

Like the bell that was damaged, the new bell measures 66 centimeters tall and 80.7 centimeters in diameter and weighs 224 kilograms. The bronze bell is inscribed with Latin words praising God and an image of a Native American saint.