Today is the anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It is amazing to think that some trees survived the explosion — the so-called hibaku trees. Hibaku means “something that has experienced a nuclear bomb.”
Dr. Riki Horiguchi, Hiroshima’s resident caregiver to all Hibaku trees in the city, maintains and nurtures the specimens that are still standing 64 years later. So many of the trees in The Hiroshima Botanical Garden and in the surrounding vicinity of the blast were irrevocably altered in appearance, and yet new life continued to spring forth from them. With Horiguchi’s dedication to the seed collecting and cultivation of authentic Hibaku trees, he has managed to safeguard the existence of second and third generation Hibaku trees.
Artist Hiroshi Sunairi, a professor at NYU’s Department of Art and Art Professions, and a native of the Hiroshima region, “shares Horiguchi’s hand-collected Hibaku tree seeds with anyone in the world who is sincerely interested in honoring their collective vision and intent.” He has second and third generation round leaf holly, persimmon, chinaberry, Firmiana simplex, Japanese hackberry and jujube trees.
Whether you live in New York or New Delhi, Sunari will happily provide you with a Hibaku seed (depending on what variety will thrive in your planting zone) as long as you cover the expense of shipping via FedEx.
You can join his Facebook group. Via.