On November 16, 2024, Professors of Environmental History, Finn Arne Jorgensen and Melania Buns of Stavanger University, visited Hiroshima in the company of Ekuko Naka. They spent time in the company of GLH master gardener Horiguchi sensei and ANT executive director Tomoko Watanabe visiting some Hibakujumoku, and with GLH coordinator Nassrine Azimi speaking about the many legacies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They hope to bring their students to Fukushima and Hiroshima next year to, in their words,

to allow for an in-depth exploration of consequences of nuclear power and weapons. We think it’s very important right now - not only are nuclear weapons absolutely on the geopolitical map in the years to come, but in Norway in particular the discussion of nuclear power is growing in strength, with significant potential consequences for how Norway manages, uses, and protects nature.

The Royal Horticultural Society and Emilios Theodosiou are working hard preparing to raise tree seeds sent by GLH from Hiroshima. The plan is to create displays in their U.K. gardens for 2045, to commemorate 100 years since the atomic bombings. The picture shows pots containing seeds for Gingko Biloba, Camphor, Kurogane Holly, Persimmon, Chinese Hackberry and Oriental Plane Tree. They propose for the full-size trees to be displayed alongside bonsai Gingko also originating from GLH.  The Gingko saplings, currently being turned into bonsai at Herons Bonsai, were donated by Aberdeen City Council.

A ginkgo, nurtured from seed to sapling for seven years, was planted on World Peace Day in Dunedin. Thank you to all of those in New Zealand who have made this planting a reality.

Dr. Gerdhard Jessen, deputy director of the botanical garden at the Universidad Austral of Chile, shared special news about their trees on this August 6, and their future vision :

‘….We are happy to announce that a new milestone was achieved 6th August…we planted the second-generation trees from the survivor trees we have been raising since 2011. As you can see in the attached pictures and the design created by our landscape collaborator Claudia Salinas, 19 trees are now at the definitive site in our Botanical Garden.’

Grateful to GLH partner and regional hub the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG) for hosting a special commemoration ceremony at the exact time of the ceremony in Hiroshima — staff and docents gathered around the Hiroshima Ginkgo in a moment of silence led by GLH coordinator Nassrine Azimi, and heard from SDBG staff Jessica Monahan and curator of Hiroshima seeds and saplings Joe DeWolf.

Link to a television interview with Nassrine is here

FOX 5 News at 10pm

New batch of Ginkgo seeds have safely arrived at our partners at the Leiden University Botanic Garden.

With gratitude to GLH partner Rinny Kooi and her colleagues in Leiden, to David Dowd, James Ross and their colleagues at GLH regional hub at CAFRE, Northern Ireland, to Nakahara-san and the team at the Hiroshima Botanic Garden — and to generations past and present, who have tended to the seeds and saplings, and will do so in the future.

Akiko Perona, UNITAR chief of communications who was instrumental in helping us plant a hibakujumoku sapling at ICRC, sent us photos of the tree as it stands (July 2024) — a magnificent specimen, clearly ICRC gardeners have taken good care of Hiroshima’s green ambassador of peace.

GLH co-founder Tomoko Watanabe and master gardener, Chikara Horiguchi, attended a series of events organized by partners in Norway. They had a chance to visit the Ginkgo sapling sent by GLH to Oslo University Botanic Garden and to give talks on Hiroshima and the Hibaku-jumoku in Oslo and Stavanger, thanks to partners Andreas Løvold and Ekuko Naka.  They also attended a special exhibit organized through the Ullandhaug Botanical Garden in Stavanger. To read the transcript of Tomoko’s speeches, click here. They also attended a special exhibit organized through the Ullandhaug Botanical Garden in Stavanger. To read the transcript of Tomoko’s speeches, click here. Click here to view the announcement for the event at Natural History Museum, Oslo University.

In June 2017 GLH sent seeds to V.F.F. Institute Mare Nostrum e.V. NPO-Austria, who since have diligently documented the process. Their website features images of the seeds, and the flowchart below, detailing application, arrival and sowing of seeds. It also has a detailed technical analysis that includes step-by-step images and explanations for germinating the seeds. Gratitude for their care and efforts, as well as those of Shuichi Hamatani and colleagues from the Hiroshima Botanical Garden.