Our partner in Italy, Prof. Antonio Brunori and other members of PFEC including Marco Bussone, Ana Belén Noriega, and Makiko Horio came to Hiroshima on May 14. We presented Antonio to master gardener Chikara Horiguchi—and soon they became best friends, despite the language barrier—language of trees truly universal! We also learned so much from Antonio, whose passion for and knowledge about trees impressive, and are looking forward to more cooperation in the future around the hibakujumoku. Attached press release from PEFC in response to the earlier awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, including information on their activities related to the hibakujumoku seeds and second-generation saplings. Thanks to the passion and dedication of Antonio and Tiziana Volta, as well as their many colleagues and associates, 49 trees from GLH seeds have been "adopted" all over Italy to date.

A beautiful immersive piece on the survivor trees and the work of GLH by Donican Lam of Kyodo News. The trees with their fresh green look particularly splendid. Click here to read the article, and here to watch the video. 

We are happy to introduce our new partners at The Friends of the Gardens of Hougoumont in Brussels, Belgium. Our focal point, Alexander de Vos van Steenwijk, shared a brochure describing this impressive project, the Hougoumont Peace Gardens. Many thanks to our colleagues at CAFRE, for mobilizing swiftly for seed dispatch.

Our partners at the Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques (CJB) in Geneva have sent an update of three of the Ginko biloba, which have germinated and are now growing in their experimental greenhouses. Pictured right are the saplings, as well as Head Gardener, Nicolas Freyre receiving the most recent delivery of seeds. Thank you to Diane Bacher for sharing this update with us. 

Spring Issue of "GRANDCHÊNE HIGHLIGHTS" has a beautiful entry by GLH’s new partners in France. 

We have received a wonderful update from our partners at the Kutaisi Botanical Garden! Linked here is their detailed account and latest updates on the second-generation hibakujumoku since their arrival to Kutaisi, Georgia in 2017. 

Some exciting updates from Dr. Gerardo Avalos:

Ready to plant their first two ginkgos, one in the Japanese Garden at the Lankester Botanical Gardens in Cartago, the other on the main campus of the University of Costa Rica. They are also coordinating with the Japanese Embassy in Costa Rica, and hope to hold the planting ceremonies around August 6th, in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

As part of this project, we are developing a children's book (for ages 5–8) inspired by the Ginkgo story […] This book is being translated into multiple languages—12 so far—thanks to a dedicated international group of volunteers, mostly young students, who are generously contributing their time and expertise. 

– Dr. Gerardo Avalos

Dr. Avalos also plans to translate the book into two indigenous languages in Costa Rica, as well as producing a physical book and an online version (which will have all translations as well as background music).

I hope to spread the word about building a culture of Peace and a future in which humanity will not have to face the possibility of annihilation due to atomic weapons and weapons of mass destruction. 

– Dr. Gerardo Avalos

A lovely update with photos shared by Professor Ann Sherif!

On March 12, 2025, Oberlin College students & faculty met the magnificent Green Legacy wisteria nurtured by Kendal at Oberlin residents and staff. As a bitterly cold Ohio winter gives way to spring, we gathered to plan signs for the hibaku jumoku nisei wisteria at Kendal and the gingkos at Oberlin College. Oberlin College students Kana Sakamoto and Kisa Biely spoke about their visit to the parent wisteria at Senda Elementary School in Hiroshima. With an unstable international order and nuclear weapons in play, Oberlin residents pledged to care for the trees and to spread their messages of hope, and danger.

Some exciting updates from our dedicated partner, Dr. Rinny Kooi at Leiden Botanic Garden:

At the beginning of 2025, a hackberry (Celtis) was planted in Leiden, related to a Tree Peace Action in Leiden. In March, trees will be offered in the cities of Dordrecht and Breda. A Celtis in Dordrecht and a Ginkgo in Breda a Ginkgo. Another Celtis will be planted in Oegstgeest soon.

- Rinny Kooi, Botanical Curator

Dr. Kooi also plans to send ginkgo seeds to Wageningen (the City of Peace in the Netherlands) on May 4, 2025, to commemorate the day when the German Military Capitulation was signed, marking the end of World War II.

2024 marks the first time that the only Eucalyptus hibakujumoku—located on the grounds of Hiroshima Castle—gave fruit, which were collected and sent to our partners in Australia. While no seeds were found, we will all persevere and try again next year.

(Pictured from left to right in group photo: Dermot Molloy, Senior Curator Horticulture at Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne; Virginia McNally, System Garden Curator and Arborist at The University of Melbourne; and Jo Brennan, Horticulturalist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne)

Our stately Eucalyptus hibakujumoku, sketched and kindly gifted by Mr. Peter Sparber of Philadelphia.