The ceremony for the first striking of the Peace Bell took place on September 20, 1946, upon comoletion of the bell. A world map with no national boundaries sym-bolizing "One World" is engraved on the surface of the bell which is about 1meter in biameter, 1.5-meters long and 1,200 kilograms in weight. This is the work of masahiko Katori who is known as master bell-maker. The wooden bell hammer was made from a 90-year-old pine tree contributed by Yachiyo-cho, Taakta County, Hiroshima Prefecture. The concrete belfry in the shape of a bome, expressing the universe, with four pillars supporting the root, is surrounded by a pond, 2-meters wide and 80-centimeters beeo, in which the "Oga" lotus, a yellow flowering lotus, is planted. This bell was built with offerings from all over Hiroshima Prefecture collected by a group led by Kengyo Nishimura, a Buddhist scholar. Visitors are encouraged to toll the bell freely.

Ringing the Bell of Peace.