The Ancient Bonsai Tree that Survived Hiroshima
The bonsai tree shown here is kept at the US National Arboretum in Washington, having been donated in 1976 as a gift to the United States by Bonsai master Masaru Yamaki. This particular tree is a white pine (pinus parvifolia). What makes this tree somewhat special is first its age: it was planted in 1625 in the Edo Period, making this tree 391 years old. Recently two of Yamaki’s grandsons visited an exhibition at the museum to see their grandfather’s bonsai. While there, they told the staff that that particular bonsai was in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing and had survived the blast and radiation that killed 140,000, and many more in later years.
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