I made Nagasaki Prayerwheel as an instrument of healing from the wounds of the nuclear age.  I intend it to become a gift from the American people to the people of Nagasaki, Japan.

 

It took exactly two years to complete.

 

Seen here, my mother, (aged 96) turns the wheel for the first time.  Her brother, my beloved uncle Rolly, fought in the Pacific during World War II.  The moment she turned the wheel, a light rain began to fall.

 

When a person turns the wheel, an internal brass carillon sounds and, once every revolution, a deeper sound is intoned. That "voice of Nagasaki" marks a particular individual each time the wheel turns.  One at a time ...

 

May we live in peace.

 

                                                                     -JLP