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Hiroshima ginkgo survived atomic bomb
Yasuda Girls' High School teacher Ayako Ando, of Hiroshima, speaks of the importance of peace and friendship. PHOTOS: SAM HENDERSON
Living symbols of peace have taken root at Seacliff.
About 30 people gathered at Truby King Recreation Reserve on Saturday to plant a ginkgo tree to mark the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final days of World War 2.
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Alasdair Morrison began the ceremony with a minute's silence at 11.02am, the exact moment on August 9, 1945, when a plutonium bomb destroyed Nagasaki.
"We are here this morning to remember and reflect."
Dunedin-Otaru Sister Cities Society secretary Nathan Woodfield, of Dunedin, speaks of the strong bond between the two cities.
Yasuda Girls' High School teacher Ayako Ando, visiting with Hiroshima students on a two-week exchange with Otago Girls' High School, spoke of the responsibility to pass on history's lessons to younger generations.
Planting the ginkgo was a powerful gesture linking two cities an ocean apart.
"I hope this tree will grow tall and strong and that students in this city that pass by it in the future will pause and reflect, not only on Hiroshima's past, but on the hope it represents."
Dunedin-Otaru Sister City Society secretary Nathan Woodfield reflected on 45 years of ties with Japan.
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board member Mark Brown, of Dunedin, guides others to shovel soil on the base of a newly planted Ginkgo biloba tree grown from seeds of a tree that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
"As we plant this tree together, a descendant of a tree in Hiroshima that experienced the terrible rays of an atomic bomb, we can together commit to making sure that this tree here never sees such tragedy."
After the speeches, people laid soil at the base of the ginkgo, which joined two others already planted in the reserve.
All three trees are direct descendants of a Ginkgo biloba that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Seeds from this tree were given in 2017 by the Green Legacy Hiroshima initiative to Dunedin Botanic Garden, with support from the Rotary Club of Dunedin Central.
