Trees grown from seeds that survived atomic bombing planted at UN headquarters
The seeds were taken from a persimmon tree that was exposed to the intense blast and radiation around 500 meters from the hypocenter in the Japanese city.
A tree-planting ceremony was held on Monday and was attended by the President of the UN General Assembly, Japan's UN Ambassador Yamazaki Kazuyuki and the chair of the preparatory committee for next year's review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Addressing the ceremony, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Nakamitsu Izumi said the trees are a symbol of peace and resilience.
Noting this year marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Nakamitsu called on people not just to remember all the horrible events, but to turn this into "an important occasion to build momentum to reverse the current, rather unfortunate trend of arms building and tensions rising."
The persimmon tree was reportedly picked from among various trees that endured the atomic bombing, in consideration of the climate and soil of New York.
Shimazu Junko, a member of Green Legacy Hiroshima, said she heard from a hibakusha, or an atomic-bomb survivor, that sprouting greenery provided survivors high hopes at a time when it was widely believed that no plants could grow in Hiroshima for as many as 70 years. She went on to say that she wants people to feel the hope the survivors felt to see greenery in the ruins, and to guide them toward peace.
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