Peace Tree seed planting 2021 [] Parque Juarez

Published September 9, 2022

Hiroshima Peace Trees Planted in San Miguel de Allende

On the first day of Spring, Sunday March 21, 2021 both Rotary Clubs of San Miguel celebrated the beginning on the Spring and hope for a new, Covid-free world by planting two very special Peace Tree seeds. The two seeds were planted in movable pots in a ceremony at the Obelisco de Paz, the Peace Pole in Parque Juarez. Ginkgo Biloba trees survived of the last Ice Age and grow all over Mexico. But these two trees will be unique. Here’s why.

The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima Japan on the 6th of August, 1945. Devastation was total. Massive human suffering and death, all plants destroyed. But in a short time, a lone Ginkgo Biloba trunk began to sprout new shoots at Ground Zero. The first life after the world’s worst act of war.

News of the tree spread. People came to for a clipping from the tree to plant at their homes for the hope it represented. A young Japanese boy was in the countryside that terrible day in 1945. Though all his family perished, he grew up and became a Rotarian. Today Tomoko Watanabe, 90, leads the Green Legacy Hiroshima Foundation.

Each fall, volunteers gather seeds and take cuttings from the tree to send a message of hope around the world. Legacy Peace Trees are now in 40 countries and growing rapidly. San Miguel’s Peace Trees will be the first in Mexico.

The two trees will be watered and kept safe by members of San Miguel’s Rotary Clubs as they grow large enough to live in the desert climate of Guanajuato. The trees will then be planted into a local park on the 6th of August, 2025, the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima.

Videos: http://glh.unitar.org       https://youtu.be/HwTlWyBpZ7c

Note: San Miguel’s Peace Pole is the largest Peace Pole in Mexico. In August 2017 it joined the 180,000 Peace Poles around the world in 140 countries. It was recognized in November 2017 by the United Nations for its unique location inside a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The four meter obelisque is made of pink cantera stone, the same stone as the Paroquia church in Centro.

“May Peace Prevail on Earth” is inscribed in Spanish, English, Otomi, Nahuatl, Braille and Mexican Sign Language.

A unique “time capsule”  contains children’s messages, drawings and the community’s hopes for peace. It were placed under the base of the peace pole to be opened UN Peace day, September 21, 2067.

From: Steve Yoshida, Rotary International’s Peace Tree Project Leader

Hope in these times of Covid from Tomoko Watanabe, the co-founder of Green Legacy:

“In these times of Covid, I remember what the A-bombed trees have taught me.

Over the slow course of the seasons, these trees never fail to put out new shoots and flowers. Their lives quietly carry on.

No matter what happens and no matter where they are, trees pour their energy into reaching the next day and the day after.

As we try our best to endure the fears caused by coronavirus, we can look to the A-bombed trees for comfort. They remind us that a new day will come. Let’s follow their example of quiet, patient effort.

Hiroshima’s hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombing, give us another hint for how to pass these difficult days.

Although hibakusha were filled with anxiety over if and when the aftereffects of radiation would claim their lives, they encouraged themselves each day, sometimes with song, sometimes with hope for their children’s future. Little by little, they brought Hiroshima back to life.

Remembering their experiences, let’s do what we can each new day.”

Tomoko Watanabe