Our partner in North Carolina, Kathleen Burkinshaw shared a photo of a lovely Ginkgo tree sapling that her family planted at the University of North Carolina Wilmington college in 2017 in partnership with GLH. Her daughter had spearheaded this project and fundraised for this sapling of peace.

The Japan Club also had a bench put in so people could rest and read about the story of the tree.

Also, the Japanese translation of Kathleen-san’s book, The Last Cherry Blossom from Holp Shuppan released on August 12th. It is her wish come true, that her mother’s story could be told in her native language “ラスト・チェリー・ブロッサム　わたしのヒロシマ” .

Thanks to human bonds, a ginkgo sapling gifted from Green Legacy Hiroshima to the garden of Eliz Baldwin Leeper was passed to Kathleen Burkinshaw in memory of her mother, who survived the Hiroshima bombing.

The following is from Ms. Burkinshaw's Facebook post about the sapling and its dedication ceremony:

"As you may know, I’ve been working on a very special project since before my book was published last August. I contacted Green Legacy Hiroshima (GLH), a program under UNITAR. GLH collects seeds from trees that survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima (A-bomb trees) and the saplings from the seeds have been planted in 30 countries all over the world. GLH put me in touch with a couple in Atlanta (Elizabeth and Steve Leeper) who had a Hiroshima ginkgo tree sapling. My husband and I drove down to Atlanta last summer and brought the sapling back with us.

This past Saturday, North Carolina became only the 7th state in the U.S. with an A-bomb tree sapling! Last March I contacted the Japanese professor, Kano-sensei, at my daughter’s college-UNC Wilmington. She loved the idea of partnering with GLH and myself. Sara, and her fellow Japan Club members quickly jumped on fundraising for the plaque, and upkeep of the tree. On Saturday I spoke at UNCW and then we had the dedication outside on the lawn where the ginkgo tree is planted. Kano-sensei, the UNCW Japan Club, the UNCW Asian Student Assoc. planned activities such as an Akido demonstration, making origami cranes to be sent to Hiroshima Peace Museum, raffle for beautifully painted pictures (by a Japan Club member, Lynda Arter, Kano-sensei, and a cherry blossom painting, I purchased at JapanFest from a local artist in Georgia),a signed copy of The Last Cherry Blossom. Before the formal dedication, I participated in my very first traditional Japanese tea ceremony, led by Mrs. Ito (the teisho-or tea ceremony host/teacher).

I could not have wished that it would have gone any better. The number of students that came out to the dedication truly touched my heart. I could feel my mom close by. Her granddaughter and daughter made sure her story will be remembered. I hope we made our ancestors proud.

Thank you to my Mom ,Sara, Japan Club members, Kano-sensei, UNCW, and Green Legacy Hiroshima."