Last updated: July 25, 2023
Place
International Friendship Bell
NPS/KLEIN
Quick Facts
Location:
Oak Ridge, TN
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
3 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Picnic Shelter/Pavilion
The first bell may have been created in China thousands of years ago to deliver messages over long distances. Over time, bells like the International Friendship Bell took on a different purpose: to deliver messages of freedom, remembrance, and peace. Cast in Kyoto, Japan in 1993, the International Friendship Bell is a symbol of peace and unity between the United States and Japan.
In 1987, Shigeko Uppuluri, an Oak Ridge resident born in Japan, and her husband Dr. Ram Uppuluri, an employee of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), traveled to Tokaimura, Japan, for research at the Japan Atomic Energy Institute. While visiting the nearby Buddhist Gannyu-ji Temple, the Uppuluris were awestruck by the temple’s bonshō bell. Dr. Uppuluri was so inspired that he developed a plan to bring a similar bell to Oak Ridge. His initial proposal did not focus on creating a bell for peace. Instead, Dr. Uppuluri originally intended to attract tourists to Oak Ridge with a unique bell, though he did suggest “Project Peace Bell” as a potential name for the Oak Ridge bell. In 1990, Oak Ridge became a sister city of Naka-machi, Ibaraki, Japan. That same year, Oak Ridge started planning for the 50th anniversary of the town’s establishment. In honor of the anniversary, a community contest was announced for a new monument to represent the anniversary’s theme: Born of War, Living for Peace, Growing Through Science. The newly formed International Friendship Bell Committee submitted a new bell proposal written by Ethel McDonald and signed by Shigeko Uppuluri. The proposal was selected and work on the bell soon commenced.
Oak Ridge artist Suzanna Harris designed the bell’s two outer panels. One panel includes Tennessee symbols and the second panel Japanese symbols. The panels connect through a rainbow that ends in an atomic symbol. The International Friendship Bell features engravings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as images of Mt. Fuji and flying cranes. The crane has a special meaning as it is a Japanese symbol of peace. A third panel was inspired by the tragedies of war. The dates of Pearl Harbor, V-J Day (Victory Over Japan Day), and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki mark the third panel. Ethel McDonald’s proposal also included a performing arts pavilion. In 1991, Professor Jon Coddington designed the pavilion, also known as the “bell house,” to house the International Friendship Bell. Professor Coddington combined elements of Asian and Western architecture and based the bell on East Tennessee’s cantilevered barns. The Uppuluris commissioned renowned Japanese bell maker Sotetsu Iwasawa from Kyoto to cast the International Friendship Bell. In 1993, Iwasawa visited Bissell Park and agreed to cast the bell at a discounted rate of $83,000. The International Friendship Committee, led by the former director of ORNL, Dr. Alvin Weinberg, raised most of the $750,000 in donations for the project. On July 14, 1993, the Uppuluris and 12 other contributors to the bell project traveled to Kyoto and took part in the Bell’s ceremonial casting. After its casting, the bronze bell weighed 8,000 pounds (3629 kilograms) and stood seven feet (2.13 meters) tall. Shigeko Uppuluri’s brother negotiated the free transport of the bell from Kyoto to Oak Ridge with the Honda company. Honda shipped the bell to Savannah, Georgia. An ORNL truck picked up the bell from Savannah and delivered it to Oak Ridge City Hall.
The International Friendship Bell is one of many monuments commemorating World War II. Since its placement, the bell has borne witness to weddings, birthday celebrations, peace vigils, as well as memorials for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. Manhattan Project leaders established Oak Ridge for the Manhattan Project’s enrichment of uranium which was used to create the “Little Boy” atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6th, 1945. Oak Ridge and Hiroshima are forever connected by the events that occurred during World War II.
Continue Your Journey
Located in the Peace Pavilion at A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge, visitors are welcome to ring the bell as a symbol of peace and unity. In addition, the park is home to the Secret City Commemorative Walk, a series of plaques and memorials dedicated to the founders of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.