On Friday 27th August 2007 John and his wife Lizzie were privileged to be present
at a ceremony on the lawn of the Gillies Centre in Edinburgh where three Nagasaki
Survivors planted a tree of friendship in the city.
The ceremony was organised
by Janet from the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre and Nigel Griffiths MP
received the tree on behalf of the people of Scotland. John and his wife Lizzie
were honoured to host the group for dinner on the following two nights.
The picture of the group shows (from right to left)
(i) Masahiko Moriguchi San (Survivor)
(ii) his older brother Mitsugi Moriguchi San (Survivor)
(iii) John Mayer
(iv)
Hiroshi Ideo San (Survivor)
(v) Shinya Moriguchi San (son of Masahiko) and
(vi) Noburu Tasaki San (Friend and Translator).
Masahiko Moriguchi San was arrested at Faslane for
demonstrating
against NATOs nuclear weapons fleet, but was allowed out of jail after being
charged. The picture below is of the flyleaf to John's personal copy of his
book Nuclear Peace showing all of their signatures. The weekend was full of
friendship, which deepend as the conversation around John's dining table revealed
more and more about each other's life and work in the cause of peace. John's
wife Lizzie provided a banquet and was delighted to welcome a further Japanese
guest, (Mrs) Mariko Kuroki (right), a Japanese Greenpeace Activist who was also invited
to sign the book.
The flyleaf to John's personal copy of his book Nuclear Peace.
