First Lady of Japan Yuko Kishida and others plant sapling of A-bombed cherry tree, hoping “this will be a place to remember the Hiroshima Summit”
Oct. 13, 2023
by Yu Kawakami, Staff Writer
On October 12, a tree-planting event was held in Hiroshima Gate Park in the city’s Naka Ward to commemorate the “Partner’s Program,” through which spouses of world leaders deepened friendship in tandem with the Hiroshima Summit of the G7 (Group of Seven Industrialized nations) in May. Along the public “Peace Promenade” walkway, Yuko Kishida, wife of Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and others planted a sapling of an A-bombed cherry tree.
Yuko said, “I hope this will be a place for people to remember the Hiroshima Summit and take steps toward peace.” Yuko, along with Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Hiroshi Tsujigami, (president of NTT Urban Development Cooperation headquartered in Tokyo and representative of the designated management group of the Hiroshima Gate Park), used a shovel and covered with soil the root of a roughly 1.5-meter-tall sapling raised by grafting a branch from an A-bombed someiyoshino cherry tree. The sapling is expected to blossom next spring.
Five people participated in the Partner’s Program in May. At the time, the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit, a joint public-private sector organization, proposed the event, obtained approval and proceeded with the preparations. In the explanatory panel for the sapling, signatures of the five participants are inscribed.
(Originally published on October 13, 2023)
On October 12, a tree-planting event was held in Hiroshima Gate Park in the city’s Naka Ward to commemorate the “Partner’s Program,” through which spouses of world leaders deepened friendship in tandem with the Hiroshima Summit of the G7 (Group of Seven Industrialized nations) in May. Along the public “Peace Promenade” walkway, Yuko Kishida, wife of Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and others planted a sapling of an A-bombed cherry tree.
Yuko said, “I hope this will be a place for people to remember the Hiroshima Summit and take steps toward peace.” Yuko, along with Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Hiroshi Tsujigami, (president of NTT Urban Development Cooperation headquartered in Tokyo and representative of the designated management group of the Hiroshima Gate Park), used a shovel and covered with soil the root of a roughly 1.5-meter-tall sapling raised by grafting a branch from an A-bombed someiyoshino cherry tree. The sapling is expected to blossom next spring.
Five people participated in the Partner’s Program in May. At the time, the Citizens Council for the Hiroshima Summit, a joint public-private sector organization, proposed the event, obtained approval and proceeded with the preparations. In the explanatory panel for the sapling, signatures of the five participants are inscribed.
(Originally published on October 13, 2023)
