News

At the G7 Hiroshima Summit, the second generation of the A-bombed Somei-Yoshino Cherry Blossom Tree was planted in Peace Memorial Park by the leaders of each country.

The tree planted was grafted and grown from the A-bombed Somei-Yoshino Cherry Blossom Tree in Hiroshima City Hall, and is not A-bombed tree.
The tree is planted on the southwest side of Flame of Peace.

On December 21, 2010, on behalf of its supporting organizations, Green Greetings Project donated 250,000 yen, a part of the contributions offered by these organizations, to the City of Hiroshima to be used for protecting A-bombed trees and for other peace promotion activities.

The City officials thanked the continuous activities of Green Greetings and explained interesting future activities of the City to promote peace.

Saturday, November 13, the fifth tour of A-bombed trees was conducted. Beyond the sandy air, we could feel the sunny autumn sky. Mr. Horiguchi, the tree doctor, guided us this time, too, telling us the situation of each tree at the time of the atomic bombing and its history over the years until today. We enjoyed the two-hour tour, which was very interesting.

We started from JR Nishi-hiroshima Station and visited:

1) the pyramid juniper, standing by Fukushima Nursery School in Fukushima-cho,
2)the camphor trees standing in a row like friends along the street by Kanon Elementary School and a kurogane holly in the school yard,
3)the jujube quietly standing among other trees in the greenbelt of the Peace Boulevard,
4) the plane trees that have taken root in the playground of Tenma Elementary School and a big camphor tree on the sidewalk by the school,
and finally,
5) the crinum lilies and the famous Chinese parasol tree in Peace Memorial Park. The tour ended a little past noon.

We presented each participant with this year’s poster of Green Greeting and the map of the A-bombed trees. If you were not able to join the tour, please visit the “Map of the A-bombed trees” of this website and enjoy the tour and other tours.

We would like to thank you all for joining our tour!

The tour of A-bombed trees will be conducted this year, too, as follows:

◆Date and hour: 10:00 a.m. to noon, Saturday, November 13, 2010
◆Where we visit: We will visit A-bombed trees in Peace Memorial Park and other places with Mr. Chikara Horiguchi, a tree doctor.
◆How to apply: Call the Peace Promotion Department between Tuesday, November 2 and Friday November 5 at 082-242-7831 or fax to 082-242-7452.
◆Maximum number of participants: 30
Please make reservations soon.

“A-bombed tree map” for general people to make the chance to touch the
a-bombed tree tree readily was completed.

The free map has been made to help people visit the A-bombed trees.
Five-thousand copies will be distributed free of charge as follows:

– Distributed from end of December, 2009 until the 5,000 copies are all handed out.
– Distributed at the following locations:

1)Tourist information offices of the city
– Rest House in Peace Memorial Park
– JR Hiroshima Station (at the Shinkansen gate and at the south gate)
– Kamiyacho Shareo
Please visit the following website for more details:
http://www.hcvb.city.hiroshima.jp/navigator/information/annai.html

2)Hiroshima Botanical Garden

3)Chugoku Shimbun
– “Fureai Dokusho-shitsu” on the first floor of the Chugoku Shimbun building
– Chupi Park

This activity is supported by the International Peace Promotion Department of the City of Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Botanical Garden and the supporting organizations of Green Greetings.

On November 27, 2009, Green Greetings Project donated a part of the contributions from the supporting organizations to the City of Hiroshima to be used for protecting A-bombed trees and other peace promotion projects.

The fourth tour of A-bombed trees was conducted on Saturday, November 14, 2009. It was a very fine autumn day. About 30 people participated in this event and visited eight locations to see A-bombed trees, from JR Yokogawa Station to Peace Memorial Park.

Mr. Chikara Horiguchi, a tree doctor, told the participants interesting stories of the trees. He said, for example, trees of the same kind, such as camphor trees, look quite different depending on the environment and conditions these trees have experienced since the atomic bombing.

If you were not able to join the tour, please visit the following website and enjoy the tour. ../map/index.html

Thank you for joining the tour!

A tour of A-bombed trees will be conducted this year, too, guided by Mr. Chikara Horiguchi, from the north gate of JR Yokogawa Station to Peace Memorial Park, visiting eight locations in three hours.
Date and hour: 9:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Saturday, November 14, 2009

Date and hour: 9:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Saturday, November 14, 2009

■Course:
Koryuji Temple (camphor tree)
↓
Misasa Shrine (camphor tree)
↓
Hiroshima Betsuin (Japanese fern palm)
↓
Hosenbo Temple (gingko tree)
↓
Zenshoji Temple (crape myrtle)
↓
Hiroshima Children’s Museum (weeping willow)
↓
he river bank near the Hiroshima Youth Center (weeping willow)
↓
Peace Memorial Park (Chinese parasol tree)

Maximum number of participants: 30

How to apply: Call the International Peace Promotion Department of the City of Hiroshima at 082-242-7831 by Friday, November 6. Details will be informed later.
– Please tell us your name, address and contact information. In case of a group, the representative’s name, address and contact information.
– Your personal information will be shared with Chugoku Hakuhodo, the organizer of this tour, but it will be used for the purpose of this tour only.

For further information, please call Ms. Imada, Chugoku Hakuhodo, at 082-248-0420.

The second generation aogiri (Chinese parasol tree) offered in 1999 to Shinonome Elementary School attached to Hiroshima University has grown this big.

This is a message we received from Shinonome Elementary School attached to Hiroshima University.

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The students of those days showed the photograph of the aogiri planted at Senda Elementary School and sang the song of aogiri (Aogiri no Uta) at the “all-school morning music assembly.” Some students had even studied about the stories of aogiri.

Sometime after they planted the seedling at this elementary school, the buds were hit and damaged by a soccer ball. The teachers and students discussed what to do and decided to install a fence around the tree. After this, the students came to pay more attention to the tree, and they were able to see the strong vitality of the tree as it grew. Now the tree has grown this big.

As a program of the PTC (Parents, Teachers and Children) activities, the fifth graders of Shinonome Elementary School visit Peace Memorial Park every year. They sing Aogiri no Uta in front of the aogiri in the park and tell the tree that one of its children is at their school.

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The second-generation aogiri sent to Komatsu City Yatano Elementary School in 2005 has grown this big by the school gate.