ENCINITAS (KGTV) — Wednesday marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing at Hiroshima, and a living piece of that history grows in San Diego's Botanic Garden in Encinitas.
A small ginkgo tree, planted in 2020 and now five years old, descended from a surviving tree of the atomic blast that changed the course of World War II.
Visitors at the Botanic Garden paused for a moment of silence during a ceremony on Wednesday, reflecting on August 6, 1945, when the bombing of Hiroshima marked Japan's surrender to the United States.
The young ginkgo tree inside the San Diego Botanic Garden now carries that history in its DNA, as well as a symbol of sowing peace between two nations.
"In some cases they survived as roots and over time the seeds, re-sprouted," Ari Novy, President and CEO of San Diego Botanic Garden said. "This tree, its mother is a very large and old ginkgo in the main tea garden in Hiroshima called the Shuk and Tea Garden. It's very beautiful."
Novy traveled to Japan in 2020 to acquire the Gingko tree through the Green Legacy Hiroshima program. Dozens of plants, like the Ginkgo, miraculously survived the atomic bomb. Once the plants produced seeds, the program started sharing them with the world.
Currently, there are more than 40 countries with descendants of surviving plants from Hiroshima.
"From the ashes of this horrible adversarial destruction can come real friendship, and it's amazing how plants can, you know, tell that history," Novy said.
The ceremony drew in the Noda family, whose roots are deeply connected to the Hiroshima event.
Koichi Noda, who was visiting from Japan, said, "I was born one year after the bombing, but at that time, maybe people felt very sad. And maybe some anger, but after that, people made a great effort to overcome that sadness and anger, and now, the relationship and the friendship between Japan and the USA is a great one."
The Nodas happened to be visiting from Japan at the timing of the 80th anniverary of the bombing at Hiroshima. The family said they visited the Hiroshima site in 2023 and now find themselves reflecting together once again.
Miles Noda, a grandson of Koichi Noda saud, "The addition of my grandparents being here is very special. It's an occasion that doesn't happen very often."
Samantha Noda, Miles' mother and Koichi's daughter-in-law, said, "It's significant for our family because we are American and Japanese. We feel that keeping the memory and the history alive is very important. It's something that we want to do as the children get older, because it's part of their history and their identity. We want to promote peace and we want to promote understanding and we want the world to get along."
