Former high school students in Hiroshima plant cloned A-bombed trees at their alma mater
Mar. 17, 2016
by Yumie Kubo, Staff Writer
On February 27, graduates from the high school attached to Hiroshima University, located in Minami Ward, Hiroshima, planted cloned A-bombed trees at the school campus. The saplings are a variety of cherry tree called the Hiroshima Ebayamazakura, a species designated by the City of Hiroshima as a natural monument. Three and a half years ago, some students at the high school succeeded in producing grafts of the original tree. Eleven saplings have since grown to become two meters in height, including the two saplings planted on this day. The school also plans to send one tree to each of two high schools in Fukushima Prefecture, as a symbol of reconstruction in which human beings and trees survived the atomic bombing.
The saplings were planted near the main gate of the school with about 20 people looking on, including high school students. Along with others, Harumi Suehiro, 21, a second-year student at Yamaguchi University, and Atsushi Kimura, 21, a second-year student at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, who worked hard to clone the tree between 2011 and 2012 when they were students at the high school, spread soil over the saplings and prayed for their growth.
The original Ebayamazakura, 14 meters tall and estimated to be about 180 years old, stands alone in Ebayama Park in Naka Ward. Anticipating the eventual death of the tree, students at the high school, designated a Super Science High School by the Ministry of Education, began working to create saplings of the tree through the process of cloning its “shoot apices” in 2007.
In October 2012, they succeeded in producing complete saplings after receiving advice from a researcher at the Sumitomo Forestry Company in Tokyo, which has a good track record of cloning cherry trees. Prior to the planting, the company had managed to raise 11 cherry saplings at one of its research facilities in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Six saplings will be planted at a park in the Eba-honmachi district in Naka Ward on February 28 and Aizugakuho High School in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture and Iwaki High School in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture will receive one sapling each.
Ms. Suehiro gazed at the growing saplings, which she and the other students created, and said hopefully, “I’d like them to convey peace to many people.”
(Originally published on February 28, 2016)
On February 27, graduates from the high school attached to Hiroshima University, located in Minami Ward, Hiroshima, planted cloned A-bombed trees at the school campus. The saplings are a variety of cherry tree called the Hiroshima Ebayamazakura, a species designated by the City of Hiroshima as a natural monument. Three and a half years ago, some students at the high school succeeded in producing grafts of the original tree. Eleven saplings have since grown to become two meters in height, including the two saplings planted on this day. The school also plans to send one tree to each of two high schools in Fukushima Prefecture, as a symbol of reconstruction in which human beings and trees survived the atomic bombing.
The saplings were planted near the main gate of the school with about 20 people looking on, including high school students. Along with others, Harumi Suehiro, 21, a second-year student at Yamaguchi University, and Atsushi Kimura, 21, a second-year student at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, who worked hard to clone the tree between 2011 and 2012 when they were students at the high school, spread soil over the saplings and prayed for their growth.
The original Ebayamazakura, 14 meters tall and estimated to be about 180 years old, stands alone in Ebayama Park in Naka Ward. Anticipating the eventual death of the tree, students at the high school, designated a Super Science High School by the Ministry of Education, began working to create saplings of the tree through the process of cloning its “shoot apices” in 2007.
In October 2012, they succeeded in producing complete saplings after receiving advice from a researcher at the Sumitomo Forestry Company in Tokyo, which has a good track record of cloning cherry trees. Prior to the planting, the company had managed to raise 11 cherry saplings at one of its research facilities in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Six saplings will be planted at a park in the Eba-honmachi district in Naka Ward on February 28 and Aizugakuho High School in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture and Iwaki High School in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture will receive one sapling each.
Ms. Suehiro gazed at the growing saplings, which she and the other students created, and said hopefully, “I’d like them to convey peace to many people.”
(Originally published on February 28, 2016)
