24 Phoenix Trees (China Parasol Trees) Exposed to the A-bomb
These trees stood in the courtyard of the Hiroshima Post and Telecommunications Bureau (now, the Chugoku Regional Postal Services Bureau). The courtyard was in Higashi-hakushima-cho, about 1.3 kilometers from the hypocenter. Because no intervening object stood in the direction of the hypocenter, they took the full force of the heat ray and blast, losing all of their branches and leaves. The sides of the trunks toward the hypocenter was burned and hollowed out.
Although the trees appeared to be dead, their branches put out buds the following spring. Seeing this new life, people dazed by the tumultuous aftermath of the atomic bombing and the war took courage.
Later, when the Chugoku Regional Postal Services Bureaus was rebuilt, they were transplanted to its present location in May 1973. They remain alive, a mute witness to the damage brought by the atomic bombing.
Though people worried that the transplanted phoenix trees would wither and die, they continued to put out seeds. These seeds have been given to many people in Japan and other countries. Offspring of this tree are thriving around the world.
