Buddhist monks will lead their annual walk to the Hanford Site to pray and beat a drum outside the 300 Area gate on Thursday. It is part of a two-week Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk organized by the monks of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist temple on Bainbridge Island, Wash., as they call for abolition of nuclear weapons. Other stops include the Washington state Capitol in Olympia on Saturday and the “From Hiroshima to Hope” lantern ceremony at Seattle’s Green Lake on Aug. 6. The walk, which started this week, is timed to end with the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
The monks and local participants in the walk will gather at John Dam Plaza by the Richland Federal Building at 1 p.m. Thursday. A brief ceremony is planned before starting the 6-mile walk to Hanford, much of it down Richland’s main street, George Washington Way. Return is by carpool and a support vehicle is provided. The temperature is expected to reach the triple digits Thursday.
