GLH Core Activities
May 2025:
The Elders visit the hibaku-Aogiri trees. On the sidelines of The Elders' meeting forum in Hiroshima they took a few minutes from their busy schedules to visit the Aogiri grove, with two hibakujumoku and one 2nd generation tree. Was wonderful to see how quickly The Elders understood the power of the trees and the urgency of the Green Legacy Hiroshima message. They are truly our wise Elders!
May 2025:
Photos of the Persimmon Journey
Our Master Gardener, Chikara Horiguchi, harvesting persimmons from the same mother tree (this season); Nassrine Azimi and Joe Dewolf with the saplings at the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG); bamboo fortresses Joe made for the safe shipment to New York City; sapling arrive at UNHQ waiting to be planted; and Junko Shimazu, representing GLH, here with Nicole Gordon, daughter of Beate Sirota Gordon.
May 2025:
Text of our statement at ceremony to plant saplings of hibakujumoku donated by GLH to UN Headquarters, May 5, 2025 (delivered by Ms. Junko Shimazu on behalf of the GLH community):
It is my honor to represent today the Green Legacy Hiroshima community in Japan and in more than 40 countries.
Allow me to briefly draw for you the picture of the long journey these persimmons have taken, and those who made it happen.
The mother tree was atomic bombed at Atago Pond, 530 meters from the hypo center. By some miracle, it survived. Human survivors in Hiroshima drew strength from seeing its revival, and in turn provided it special status, now given to some 160 trees that survived within the hypo center’s 2-km radius.
In 2011 two women in Hiroshima — Nassrine Azimi then at UNITAR, and Tomoko Watanabe at ANT-Hiroshima, decided to join forces, to spread the seeds and message of these trees worldwide. They called their initiative Green Legacy Hiroshima. UNITAR and many many others were inspired, and stepped in to provide in-kind support. A global campaign was born.
The seeds of these particular saplings were collected by the GLH team overseen by master gardener Horiguchi-san, then carefully stored at the Hiroshima Botanic Garden (HBG), then sent to our regional hub, the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG). Plant curators in San Diego raised the seedlings and in early spring carefully bundled two in a bamboo enclosure for the journey to New York. The receiving team at UNHQ kept careful watch over them for the last few weeks. Thanks to all of them we are now gathered, to leave a green legacy for future generations (at UNHQ). Tomoko always says that A-bombed trees speak to us with silent voices. And Nassrine always says GLH is a 1000-year initiative, and it takes a community, to do anything this long and this worthwhile.
Thank you for becoming part of this community.
日本語はこちらです。Click here to see coverage by NHK News (in Japanese) on the ceremony.
We would also like to highlight our amazing partners at SDBG for coordinating the safe arrival of the saplings to NYC.
April 2025:
GLH Seasonal Photo (April 2025): Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica), Hiroshima. Hibakujumoku closest to the hypocenter.
April 2025:
GLH Seasonal Photo (March 2025): Cherry Blossoms in Ebayama Park, Hiroshima
