Looking at the leafy weeping willow standing on the banks of a serene river in Hiroshima, one would never guess it endured the blast of the U.S. atomic attack on the city almost 80 years ago in the closing days of World War II.

At around 370 meters from the explosion on Aug. 6, 1945, the willow is recognized by the city government as the closest surviving tree to the hypocenter. Like many other trees, it was reduced to little more than a charred stump or bare roots at the time but demonstrated a remarkable will for life by regrowing.

Photo taken October 1945 shows ground zero near the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. The surviving structure (center) later became known as the Atomic Bomb Dome and serves as a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement.

Photo taken October 1945 shows ground zero near the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. The surviving structure (center) later became known as the Atomic Bomb Dome and serves as a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement.

As atomic bomb survivors age and fewer are able to share their experiences, increasing attention has turned to these surviving trees as silent witnesses. For some, the trees may also offer a more approachable way to engage with Hiroshima's painful past.

"When people talk about the atomic bombing, it often comes across as very harsh and raw -- it's a powerful and direct subject. Sometimes those stories are necessary, too. But when we use trees as a kind of buffer in the conversation, the message comes across more gently and softly," said Chikara Horiguchi, the 80-year-old master gardener of so-called atomic-bombed trees in Hiroshima.

Horiguchi, a native of Miyazaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan, became Hiroshima Prefecture's first certified arborist in 1992. While he initially hoped to work with private gardens, he realized that overseeing greenery in the city is itself an act of advocating for peace.

Currently, around 160 trees standing within 2 kilometers of ground zero are registered by the Hiroshima city government as remaining "survivors" of the blast, based on the testimonies of residents and on-site investigations.

*Photo taken at the end of 1945 shows trees at a spot around 600 meters from the hypocenter. (Photographed by Toshio Kawamoto)(Photo courtesy of Yoshio Kawamoto via Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum)*

*Photo taken at the end of 1945 shows trees at a spot around 600 meters from the hypocenter. (Photographed by Toshio Kawamoto)(Photo courtesy of Yoshio Kawamoto via Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum)*

Demonstrating the impact of the weapons of mass destruction, a study conducted more than a decade ago found that the vast majority of single-trunk trees leant toward the hypocenter due to slower growth on the more exposed side.

In some cases, the trees have served as a beacon of hope for people who experienced the tragedy. Chinese parasol trees, now taking root in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, became symbolic of survival following the testimony of Suzuko Numata, who lost her left leg in the wake of the blast and her fiance in the war.

*Suzuko Numata shares her experience of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in June 1999.*

*Suzuko Numata shares her experience of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in June 1999.*

Numata, who died in 2011 at the age of 87, had devoted herself to telling visitors of how the tree had given her the will to continue living after seeing it bud again following the bombing. At that time, it was located in the courtyard of the Hiroshima post and telecommunications bureau where she worked.

*The courtyard of the Hiroshima post and telecommunications bureau where the Chinese parasol trees originally stood. (Photographed by the US Army)(Photo courtesy of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum)*

*The courtyard of the Hiroshima post and telecommunications bureau where the Chinese parasol trees originally stood. (Photographed by the US Army)(Photo courtesy of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum)*

The "aogiri" tree, as the species is named in Japanese, was transplanted to the memorial park in 1973 from its original location 1.3 km away from the hypocenter, and became the catalyst for distributing seeds and saplings throughout the city and abroad.

Efforts to spread the trees' message of peace beyond Japan has continued for over a decade under a global volunteer initiative called Green Legacy Hiroshima, which is backed by entities including a U.N. training arm in support of sustainable development goals.

"I think no other living thing can convey some of the spirit of the hibaku-jumoku," said Nassrine Azimi, a co-founder of the initiative who formerly served as the first director of the Hiroshima office of U.N. Institute for Training and Research, referring to the Japanese word meaning "atomic-bombed trees."

*Nassrine Azimi, co-founder of Green Legacy Hiroshima*

*Nassrine Azimi, co-founder of Green Legacy Hiroshima*

"You send a seed, you put it in a package, off it goes, and then six months later we get photos from the world," she said during a recent interview in Hiroshima.

Green Legacy Hiroshima has delivered seeds of such trees to around 140 locations in over 40 countries while working with partners around the world, including an anti-nuclear weapons group in Oregon launched by Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Hideko Tamura-Snider.

The 91-year-old recalled the challenges when trying to get the seed-planting project started in the northwestern U.S. state of Oregon, where she lives, noting during an online interview that "nobody was interested" at first.

Thanks to her perseverance, however, there are now over 55 second-generation atomic-bombed trees planted in Oregon -- reportedly the densest population outside Japan.

Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Hideko Tamura-Snider participates in the public dedication of a second-generation atomic-bombed tree in Oregon in September 2022. (Photo courtesy of Hideko Tamura-Snider)

Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Hideko Tamura-Snider participates in the public dedication of a second-generation atomic-bombed tree in Oregon in September 2022. (Photo courtesy of Hideko Tamura-Snider)

Tamura-Snider was just 11 years old on the day of the atomic bombing, which took the life of her mother. She moved to the United States after high school where she earned various degrees and served as a clinical social worker.

Drawn into advocating peace and nuclear non-proliferation, she founded One Sunny Day Initiatives in 2007 as part of efforts to serve as a bridge between Japanese and Americans, who fought a bitter war after Japan's surprise assault on Pearl Harbor in 1941, resulting in the world's first nuclear attack.

"Americans carry wounds from Pearl Harbor, and Japanese carry wounds from everything, from the war...I wanted the Americans and the Japanese to get to know each other in such a way, not as a visitor from a foreign country, but a human being," said Tamura-Snider, who has also spoken at universities and events in the United States about her wartime experience.

Collaborating with Green Legacy Hiroshima since 2017 to plant seeds of peace, she said her love for trees goes back to childhood, when her grandfather, who headed a multinational corporation, had a "huge, huge garden that was like a paradise in spring."

The Japanese pussy willow, a surviving tree that stands at the edge of the moat at Hiroshima Castle, in April 2025.

A group of tourists listen to the story of the atomic-bomb surviving eucalyptus at Hiroshima Castle in April 2025.

*A ceremony is held on May 5, 2025, to plant saplings grown from seeds that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the U.N. headquarters in New York.*

*A ceremony is held on May 5, 2025, to plant saplings grown from seeds that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the U.N. headquarters in New York.*

To mark the 80th anniversary of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki this year, Green Legacy Hiroshima spearheaded a planting of two saplings from Hiroshima at the U.N. headquarters in New York in May, with plans to also conduct a similar planting at the former Japanese internment camp in Manzanar in California in September.

"Until recently, most of Hiroshima's efforts have been verbal or human-centered, and I think it's very nice to bring a new dimension," said Azimi.

Bringing renewed attention to the surviving greenery, the Hiroshima city government has launched a new project this year to use pruned branches of atomic-bombed trees to make products that convey peace, accepting proposals from interested individuals and organizations.

Beyond caring for atomic-bombed trees in Hiroshima and educating visitors to the city through tours, Horiguchi has traveled across the world, including the U.N. office in Geneva, to advocate for peace through their enduring legacy.

"Every country has its own unique relationship between trees and people, but I get the sense that there's always some emotional closeness. I believe that connection is universal," said Horiguchi.

"I hope people can feel, through trees, that peace is important, and that nuclear weapons are wrong."

The way of Sake

The addition of the traditional knowledge and skills used in sake-brewing to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List highlighted an industry facing shrinking consumption in Japan, but eyeing growing interest abroad, and possibly beyond.

Subterranean defenses prepare Tokyo for worst-case flood extremes

After visitors descend stairs winding 50 meters below ground, they emerge to an otherworldly sight -- a cavernous, dimly lit space with towering pillars reminiscent of a temple in ancient Rome.

Japan's unstaffed train stations getting rural revival on track

With rural Japan experiencing severe depopulation, some unstaffed train stations and vacant homes are being transformed into places for tourists to stay -- and it is proving a success.

Kinugawa Onsen reversing "haikyo" image amid foreign visitor boom

On the banks of Kinugawa River, a row of abandoned, crumbling hotels stands like a relic of a forgotten past. A destination that once thrived as a hot spring resort during Japan's bubble economy era of the 1980s, many parts of Kinugawa Onsen have now fallen silent.

The Company uses Google Analytics, an access analysis tool provided by Google. Google Analytics uses cookies to track use of the Service. (Client ID / IP address / Viewing page URL / Referrer / Device type / Operating system / Browser type / Language /Screen resolution) Users can prevent Google Analytics, as used by the Company, from tracking their use of the Service by downloading and installing the Google Analytics opt-out add-on provided by Google, and changing the add-on settings on their browser. (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout) For more information about how Google handles collected data: Google Analytics Terms of Service (https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies?hl=en#types-of-cookies) Google Privacy & Terms(https://policies.google.com/privacy)

Silent witnesses

A-bomb trees carrying on aging survivors' legacy

By Donican Lam