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Seedlings grown from A-bombed tree to be planted at World Heritage site in Kyoto

by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer

On October 25, two seedlings grown from a Chinese parasol tree that survived the A-bombing of Hiroshima will be planted in a garden at Nijo Castle, a World Heritage site located in Kyoto. A Hiroshima citizens’ group is seeking to express the wish for nuclear abolition by spreading descendants of the A-bombed Chinese parasol tree at World Heritage sites.

The two seedlings were grown from the seeds of a Chinese parasol tree standing in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The group was given these 60-centimeter tall seedlings from the Hiroshima municipal government. They will be planted near the Honmaru Palace on the castle grounds, and a panel will be placed to provide information on the tree and the atomic attack.

The Hiroshima group, which has been sending seeds and seedlings from the Chinese parasol tree to places in and out of Japan, planted seedlings at Kinkakuji (the Temple of the Golden Pavilion) and Ginkakuji (the Temple of the Silver Pavilion) in Kyoto in 2011. With the support of Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa, planting the seedlings at Nijo Castle, managed by the Kyoto municipal government, was made possible.

The planting ceremony will be performed by Mr. Kadokawa and a high school student from Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture. These two cities concluded an exchange agreement after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. A message from Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will be read out by Yutaka Miki, 60, the head of the Hiroshima group.

In a press conference held at Hiroshima City Hall on October 17, Jiko Sato, 57, a resident of Shiga Prefecture and the head of the group’s Kansai branch, said, “Nijo Castle attracts many tourists from home and abroad. I hope these trees will convey a message of peace and increase the momentum for the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020, the goal sought by Mayors for Peace.” The mayor of Kyoto is a member of Mayors for Peace, for which the mayor of Hiroshima serves as president.

(Originally published on October 18, 2013)

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