The Hiroshima Bonsai: A Tree Survived Hiroshima… and Nobody Knew for 25 Years

For 25 years, visitors in Washington walked past a small, old pine tree.

It had survived the atomic bomb, but nobody there knew.

This is the story of the Hiroshima bonsai.

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Bonsai.

A bonsai is a small tree grown in a pot and shaped by hand, often over many years.

According to the family, this bonsai has been shaped since 1625.

Heirloom.

An heirloom is a valuable object that a family passes down from parents to children.

For about five generations, the tree was a family heirloom.

Blast.

A blast is a powerful explosion, or the strong rush of air and heat that it sends out.

The blast broke the windows of their house.

Reconciliation.

Reconciliation is when people or countries become friendly again after a conflict or a war.

For many visitors, the tree became a symbol of reconciliation.

Resilient.

Something resilient survives difficult conditions and stays strong.

The resilient little tree is now about 400 years old.

Now, one pattern: what plus a clause, then was.

It puts the most important idea at the end of the sentence.

Nobody knew where it had been.

What nobody knew was where it had been.

Ready? Let's begin.

According to the family, this bonsai has been shaped since 1625.

That year, a Yamaki ancestor began shaping a young Japanese white pine in a pot.

For generations, the Yamaki family ran a bonsai nursery in Hiroshima.

Each generation watered the tree, cut it and shaped its branches, then passed it on.

For about five generations, the tree was a family heirloom.

On 6 August 1945, at 8:15 in the morning, an atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima.

The Yamaki home and nursery were about 3 kilometres away.

The blast broke the windows of their house.

Flying glass cut the family, but nobody was seriously hurt.

Outside, the bonsai trees were still standing.

What protected them was probably a tall wall around the nursery.

About thirty years later, in 1976, the United States celebrated its 200th birthday.

As a gift of friendship, Japan sent 53 bonsai to the National Arboretum in Washington.

One of them came from a bonsai master called Masaru Yamaki.

He had given away a tree his family had cared for over centuries.

But he never mentioned the bomb.

For 25 years, visitors admired the little pine.

What nobody knew was where it had been.

Then, in March 2001, two young Japanese brothers walked into the bonsai museum at the Arboretum without warning.

They were Masaru Yamaki's grandsons, Shigeru and Akira.

They had come to see their grandfather's tree.

Over lunch, with volunteers translating, the brothers told the story of that morning in 1945.

What the museum learned that day was the tree's real history.

A tree that had lived through the atomic bomb was now growing in the capital of the country that had dropped it, as a gift.

For many visitors, the tree became a symbol of reconciliation.

Today, the pine is only about 60 centimetres tall, and it welcomes visitors in the museum's Japanese pavilion.

Experts water it every day and turn it twice a week.

The resilient little tree is now about 400 years old.

Let's review. According to the family, this bonsai has been shaped since 1625.

For about five generations, the tree was a family heirloom.

The blast broke the windows of their house.

For many visitors, the tree became a symbol of reconciliation.

The resilient little tree is now about 400 years old.

And remember: what nobody knew was where it had been.

The Hiroshima bonsai's story teaches us: from the worst day in a city's history, a gift of friendship can grow.

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