This is the incredible story of a bonsai that is not only nearly 400 years old but also managed to survive in Hiroshima and, despite everything, to arrive unscathed until today, continuing to thrive.
This is the incredible story of a bonsai that not only it is nearly 400 years old but who also managed to survive in Hiroshima and, despite everything, to arrive unscathed until today, continuing to thrive.
There are plants that do not even survive the "black thumb" of those who take care of them and others with an extraordinary capacity of resistance like that of this bonsai. Planted in 1625 and survived Hiroshima, the little tree has today 391 years old but he shows no sign of giving in and on the contrary continues to live healthy and strong.
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The tree belonged to the Yamaki family which in 1945 resided about two miles away from the point where American forces dropped the bomb that killed about 140 people. Surprisingly enough, the tree, as well as the Yamaki family, survived the explosion relatively unscathed.
Currently the tree is housed in the US National Arboretum in Washington where it arrived in 1976 following a donation by Masaru Yamaki. The staff of the arboretum is obviously aware of the incredible history of this tree, it was Yamaki's grandchildren themselves in 2001 who explained what happened during a visit to the naturalistic structure.
In reality, the history of this bonsai is not an isolated case, hundreds of trees survived the Hiroshima explosion and, although damaged and with broken branches, they were able to come back strong and healthy afterwards. These are trees that were located at a radius of about 2 kilometers from the point of the explosion and which were later officially registered as trees affected by the atomic bomb. Each of them was called "Hibaku Jumoku“, That is“ surviving tree ”, and is identified with a special plate.
It is really true that nature sometimes holds extraordinary surprises!
