Sir – The planting ceremony of the Bombed Kaki Tree Jr. of Nagasaki was held on Sunday, April 12, at Barracks Lane Community Garden in East Oxford http://www.barrackslanegarden.org.uk/, and through your columns may I please thank everyone who attended, and all those who gave their good wishes on this very special occasion.
This Kaki tree is the extraordinary descendant of a tree which survived the atomic blast at Nagasaki in 1945 (70 years ago this year), and such trees are planted around the world as symbols of peace and healing http://kakitreeproject.com/eng/ The weather couldn’t have been better, and we were privileged to have representatives of Oxford CND, Quakers, and COFEPOW (Children of Far East Prisoners of War) present. Hiroko Kato, from the Kaki Tree Executive Committee, travelled all the way from Japan to be with us.
Poignant poems were read, Melissa Holding made a beautiful offering of Koto music to the tree, East Oxford Community Choir sang a moving Irish Blessing and Marguerite Wallis sang the touching I Come and Stand at Every Door by Pete Seeger.
Ama Boisard, of Oxford Reiki, led us in a special Reiki blessing, and once the tree was planted, we all placed white pebbles around it.
Children also learnt about the tree in an age appropriate fashion, in a special workshop led by Beatrice Emmanouil.
In her speech Hiroko Kato suggested we all meet again in ten years time, around a mature tree.
Until then please visit Barracks Lane Community Garden and join us as we watch this very special tree as it grows.
Daniel Emlyn-Jones
Oxford
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