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“Survivor trees” to be exchanged between Hiroshima and New York

by Yoshiaki Kido, Staff Writer

On October 27, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui announced that the City of Hiroshima and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, as well as a botanical park in New York City, will pursue a project to exchange seeds or seedlings from “survivor trees” that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 and the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States in September 2001.

On this day, Cannon Hersey, 40, an artist and the head of 1Future, a non-profit organization in the United States, met Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui at the Hiroshima City Hall. Mr. Hersey said that the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, established at the site of the terrorist attack in New York, as well as a botanical park in the city, would like to receive seeds or seedlings from the A-bombed trees in Hiroshima. He suggested, too, that this could be an exchange, with seeds or seedlings from the trees under the auspices of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum coming to Hiroshima. Mr. Matsui voiced his support for Mr. Hersey’s idea, saying that the City of Hiroshima would be glad to engage in this project.

A species of pear tree, which became known as “The Survivor Tree,” once stood along the road in front of the World Trade Center building that collapsed after a plane crashed into it in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Although the tree was badly damaged by the wreckage of the collapsed building, it somehow managed to survive and was later replanted on the grounds of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

In an interview with the Chugoku Shimbun, Mr. Hersey said that he would like to strengthen friendly ties between the two cities by exchanging their “survivor trees” and have the project result in concrete actions for building peace.

(Originally published on October 28, 2017)

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