PORTSMOUTH — At exactly 3:47 p.m. on Friday, bells rang all over the Seacoast and other parts of the state for three minutes in commemoration of the 109th anniversary of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, effectively ending the war between Japan and Russia.

PORTSMOUTH — At exactly 3:47 p.m. on Friday, bells rang all over the Seacoast and other parts of the state for three minutes in commemoration of the 109th anniversary of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, effectively ending the war between Japan and Russia.



For the first time, city officials were joined by Japanese Consul General Tsutomu Himeno and his wife, along with several other Japanese dignitaries.



Charles Doleac, chairman of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum, welcomed the participation of the Japanese and announced that he received word that next year, on the 110th anniversary of the 1905 treaty, representatives from Russia will be on hand.



It was definitely a year of firsts in commemoration of the treaty.



Mayor Bob Lister joined School Superintendent Ed McDonough and Assistant Superintendent Steve Zadravec at 7 a.m. Friday, with students from the city and with video participation of students in Nichinan, Japan, Portsmouth's sister city, to ring bells at 3:47 p.m. Japan time.



Gov. Maggie Hassan was on hand to read a proclamation.



"I am delighted to be the co-sponsor of the legislation (in 2010) that established Sept. 5 as Peace Treaty Day in New Hampshire," Hassan said. "It speaks a lot to who we are as Granite Staters when we insisted both sides (Russia and Japan) stay and continue to negotiate until a peace agreement was reached."



President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for the successful treaty negotiations. Doleac noted that he never ever actually came to Portsmouth during that time.



"It was the people of New Hampshire and then-Mayor Calvin Page who brought the two sides to the Wentworth and Shipyard," Doleac said. "It was New Hampshire residents who got them to stay."



"It showed a remarkable example of how everyone can contribute to peace," said Tsutomu, as those gathered waited for the first bells to ring.



The commemoration was held on Pleasant Street in front of Piscataqua Bank, where the plaque denoting the peace treaty signing is located. Bells rang from there at 3:47 p.m., and from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, North Church, South Church, St. John's, Temple Israel (blowing of the traditional "shofar" ram's horn), Christ Church, Middle Street Baptist Church, Wentworth By The Sea Hotel, Strawbery Banke Museum, Second Congregational Church in Kittery, Maine, Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, and at Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College in Hanover



A reception at Strawbery Banke for all participants followed the bell-ringing ceremony.