We would like to introduce the following information given by Ms. Chinami Shikai, who is a teacher at Taipei Japanese School.
——————————————————————————-
I am a teacher at Koi Elementary School in the Nishi Ward of Hiroshima, but I am temporarily teaching at Taipei Japanese School in the Republic of China. Since seven years ago, I started peace activities with children at Koi Elementary School. We invited people from the local community to tell us about their experience of the atomic bombing.
There was a big gingko tree in front of a warehouse of the gymnasium. The playground was redeveloped after the war, and so the area is now outside the school ground. The gingko tree shed many leaves in autumn and watched over the children.
On the right side of the gingko tree, there were many A-bombed cherry trees. Every year, the blossoms gave us encouragement. The cherry trees were also transplanted to other locations when the playground was redeveloped.
At the south end of the school, there were two large bead trees that also survived the atomic bombing. Many survivors told us that they were exposed to the atomic bomb under the bead trees. They were students of this school, and on that morning, they were practicing flag signals. Because it was a hot summer day, their teacher told them to go under the shade of the trees, when the bomb exploded.
Koi Elementary School became a temporary rescue station, and many people were buried in the school ground. We hear that the school was full of injured people and dead people everywhere, including toilets, corridors, the gym and classrooms.
We must not forget the gingko tree, which survived the atomic bombing and has tried hard to live, so I wrote this email. I hope Hiroshima will continue to be a sanctuary to which people send their wish for peace from all over the world.
——————————————————————————-
Ms. Shikai, thank you very much for your precious information. In the future, when we may not be able to have many opportunities to listen to A-bomb survivors, we must be the ones to carry on their testimonies to the future generations so that they will not be forgotten.
We have forwarded Ms. Shikai’ s information to the Peace Promotion Department. When we hear from them, we will write about it in this blog.
Green Greetings welcomes your information on A-bombed trees.