Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii

Media Contact: Catherine Tarleton
CatherineTarleton@gmail.com 808-339-8903

Ring Your Bell for Peace Day
with special guests Jake Shimabukuro and Melveen Leed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2021

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS—In celebration of Peace Day in Hawai‘i, the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i will host an online ringing of the bells at temples and favorite places around the islands at 9:01 a.m. on Tuesday September 21, 2021. A special appearance by ‘ukulele master and peace ambassador Jake Shimabukuro highlights the event.

“We’re so very excited to have Jake with us on Peace Day,” said event organizer Rene Mansho. “As Hawaii’s ‘Ambassador for Peace,” he uses his music to bring people together every day. For this occasion he’ll share his message of peace through his song selections. And it’s such an honor to have Hawaii’s “Queen of Music,” Melveen Leed singing ‘Let There Be Peace on Earth.’ It’s going to be a memorable experience after watching everyone ringing their bells.”

Ring Your Bell for Peace Day was created as a type of joyful gathering online, to compensate for public health restrictions. Last year’s event engaged 100+ groups from ten U.S. states, four Hawaiian Islands, Canada and Japan. Even more participants are expected for 2021.

Welcome remarks, music and pule begin at 8:30 a.m., then Bishop Eric Matsumoto will lead a minute of silence, honoring all those who have sacrificed for the achievement of peace. At 9:01, bells will ring out from temples, churches, schools, individual homes, and community organizations. The program will be streamed live online via Zoom and Facebook Live.

September 21 has been the International Day of Peace since it was established by the United Nations in 1981. It is also Peace Day in the state, thanks to members of the Hawai‘i Federation of Junior Young Buddhist Associations, who presented a resolution to the Hawai‘i Legislature in 2007, which enacted House Bill 342, a law making September 21 Peace Day in Hawai‘i.

Mansho said the group is reaching out to worldwide peace proponents, as well as military service branches, activists, and communities everywhere, to join in the bell-ringing from their locations. “If we learned anything during this pandemic, it is just how interdependent we are. We can all remember that on Peace Day, as we join all together with all our different bells large and small, wherever we are.”

Ring Your Bell for Peace Day event web page