Germinate
Here lies shattered dreams,
among warped glass and boiled tiles,
Yet here a tree grows
- Charlotte Yeung, UN Youth Champion for Disarmament
Two saplings from a persimmon tree that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima were planted in the UN Food Garden in New York, commemorating the eightieth anniversaries of the bombings and the founding of the United Nations.
In Japanese, hibakujumoku is a term for trees that survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These saplings grew from seeds collected from a persimmon tree exposed to the blast and radiation in Hiroshima.
"A symbol of peace and resilience”
At the tree-planting ceremony on 5 May, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, expressed hope that many people would “be able to enjoy the fruit of these trees, which have now become a symbol of peace and resilience”.
Philémon Yang, President of the General Assembly, Harold Agyeman, Chair of the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and Yamazaki Kazuyuki, Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN, also attended the ceremony.
“As these saplings grow, so do our aspirations for peace spread and become a reality,” said Mr. Yamazaki.
Hope survives
The tree-planting event represented a year-long effort led by four members of the UN Staff Recreation Council Garden Club: Soo Hyun Kim, Political Affairs Officer in the Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA); Damon Shavers. IT Assistant, ODA; Lisa Anderson, Chief, Commercial Aviation Safety, Department of Safety and Security; and Michael Jenkins, Occupational Health Officer, Department of Operational Support.
Thanks to colleagues in the Department of Global Communications, it was widely covered by UN and Japanese media outlets.
We hope this symbolic gesture for lasting peace lives to inspire current and future UN staff members, reminding us that even during humanity’s darkest moments, hope survives.
Visit the hibakujumoku
If you are at UN Headquarters in New York You, you can visit the UN Food Garden and the hibakujumoku by heading to the basement level of the complex and walking towards the satellite dish next to the East River.
