YEREVAN. – The opening of a Hiroshima Stone for Peace took place in Yerevan on Monday.

The ceremony was attended by guests from Hiroshima, representative of Japan's embassy in Armenia (residence in Moscow), representative of presidential administration, parliament, municipality and guests.

Hiroshima Peace Stone is one of the 188 plates extracted from pavement railway line passing close to the riverbank Ayoi located in the zero zone of the tragedy, 200 meters from the hypocenter where the Americans dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.

Addressing participants of the ceremony, head of the Stone for Peace Association of Hiroshima Umimoto Michiko thanked the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan for the decision to install a monument in Yerevan.

“It's an honor to be able to convey to the Armenians a part of warmth from the hearts of Hiroshima. These plates are mute evidence of the tragedy. A few years after the bombing of Hiroshima, the local residents decided to collect them and present to the heads of states as a sign of call for peace and brotherhood,” he said.

Assistant to the president Varuzhan Nersisyan noted actively developing cooperation between Armenia and Japan, that was contributed by the opening of Armenia's Embassy in Tokyo in 2010 and will be contributed by the opening of Japan's embassy in Yerevan next year.

Photo by Mariam Levina