On May 14, 2022, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum planted a kaki (persimmon) tree sapling on its grounds, inviting children from the local community of Hachioji to take part in the ceremony. This, however, was no ordinary tree: it was the offspring of a mother tree in Nagasaki that miraculously survived the atomic bombing and devastation of the city on August 9, 1945.
Held under the auspices of the nonprofit “Revive Time: Kaki Tree Project,” the ceremony was attended by Masayuki Ebinuma, the arborist who in 1994 nursed the badly injured mother tree back to health and succeeded in producing seedlings. Having learned of the Kaki Tree Project and finding resonance with its call for a world free from nuclear weapons, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum asked to join the Project and was granted a sapling.
We felt it fitting that children help in its planting as a symbol of our collective hope that future generations may flourish in peace together with this kaki tree. Since its inception in 1996, the Kaki Tree Project has gone global with saplings planted by some 30,000 children at more than 312 schools in Japan and 26 other countries as of April 2022.
Visitors are welcome to view the tree located in the museum’s inner courtyard. For more information on Revive Time: Kaki Tree Project, please click on this link: