{"id":6459,"date":"2026-05-22T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6459"},"modified":"2026-05-22T07:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:00:13","slug":"memorial-bell-inside-hiroshimas-peace-park-has-been-silenced-but-for-a-sweet-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=6459","title":{"rendered":"Memorial bell inside Hiroshima\u2019s Peace Park has been silenced, but for a sweet reason"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s Peace Monument is going to be a quieter place for a while<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park<\/strong> is located in the center of Hiroshima City, right across the street from where the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. Aside from being a tranquil green space, the park contains several monuments to those who lost their lives in or after the bombing, one of which is the Children\u2019s Peace Monument<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Children\u2019s Peace Monument was built in 1958, following the death of Sadako Sasaki, who was a 2-year-old girl living in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped and died from leukemia 10 years later. The monument\u2019s central structure consists of a statue of a child standing atop a stone dome, and suspended underneath it is a bell that visitors can ring as a symbol of their wish for peace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As of May 18, though, the bell has been silenced, but not because of vandalism or a change in public opinion. The reason why is something much more heartwarming: a family of sparrows is moving into it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

A pair of sparrows has been seen gathering branches and placing them inside the bell in order to build a nest. The animals\u2019 activity was first reported by a visitor to the park on May 18, and once administrators confirmed the nest\u2019s presence, the decision was made to detach the chain by which the bell can be rung, in order to keep the nest from being shaken apart or its eventual eggs and hatchlings from being damaged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u25bc The bell\u2019s design has a folded paper crane motif, as the tradition of folding 1,000 cranes to have one\u2019s wish granted is heavily associated with Sasaki.<\/p>\n\n

With Japan\u2019s rainy season on the way, the bell provides a nesting spot that\u2019s protected from the elements and also out of the line of sight of crows and other predators. The Hiroshima City government has said the sparrows are welcome to stay for as long as they need for their babies to grow large enough to leave the nest, at which time workers will remove it and replace the bell\u2019s chain<\/strong>. A similar situation unfolded five years ago, when a different nest was discovered inside the bell and was left in place until its avian occupants vacated it.<\/p>\n

Online reactions to the park\u2019s decision have been overwhelmingly positive, and providing a place for new life to come into the world dovetails with Peace Memorial Park\u2019s mission of being not just a place of remembrance, but also a symbol of hope for a compassionate future, and the Hiroshima City government has asked that parkgoers \u201cPlease be kind to the sparrows during your visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Chugoku Shimbun<\/a>, FNN Prime Online<\/a><\/em>
\nTop image: Wikipedia\/Taisyo<\/a><\/em>
\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? Follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Children\u2019s Peace Monument is going to be a quieter place for a while. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is located in the center of Hiroshima City, right across the street from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}