Kingfishers, gingkos, oleander and camphor: A Reflection on Hiroshima

This gourd features the common kingfisher, gingko leaves, camphor flowers and berries (seven, one to represent each of the seven rivers that flow through Hiroshima to the sea), and an oleander flower. After the atomic bomb scorched the city of Hiroshima, radiating the earth and claiming the lives of 70,000 people in a matter of seconds, it was feared that nothing would ever grow there again. Almost a year later, the first blooms emerged - of an oleander. Six gingko trees survived the hypocenter of the atomic blast, and three camphor trees at Shirakami Shrine, where there were no human survivors. All told, there were 170 tree survivors within a mile or so of ground zero. Each of these trees bears a plaque today commemorating it as a survivor, a hibakujumoku - which literally translates to "nuked tree".
A new city rose from the ashes. Every prefecture in Japan donated trees to Hiroshima's rebuilding. The oleander and the camphor have become the official flower and tree of the rebuilt city, symbols of resilience and rebirth. Through Green Legacy Hiroshima, the seeds of the surviving ginkgos, and the other hibakujumoku, are still shared with cities around the world.

*Kingfishers are one of the resident birds of Hiroshima today, and a sign of hope as well, as they cannot survive in heavily polluted places.