After Nagaoka was bombed during World War II and 80 percent of its city’s was destroyed, the people of Nagaoka started reconstruction of the city and also began a fireworks festival as a symbol of their recovery. Sunday at church was emotional because it was the first time many members had seen Carter since his announcement that he has cancer. It is one of Honolulu’s sister cities and is famous for fireworks.
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Honolulu mayor Kirk Caldwell said the ceremony was to honour and remember the past, “because we can not understand how to go forward unless we know where we came from”.
Nagaoka and Honolulu became sister cities in 2012 and have continued to make peaceful exchanges since then. Incredibly, after performing this miracle, the US ended their occupation in 1951 and handed complete control of the country back to its native rulers. “Tomohisa Takei, recently summed up the impact of the resolution of the war through the intervening 70 years of stability and prosperity as transitioning an ocean of war to an ocean of peace to an ocean of prosperity”.
The fireworks display served to express condolences to those lost during the Pacific War as well as the continued pursuit of peace between the U.S. and Japan, and Pearl Harbor and Nagaoka.
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On August 14th, 1945, Emperor Hirohito issued a decree read over the radio ordering imperial troops to lay down their arms and accept allied occupation of Japan. Residents of both cities attended the ceremony.
