Dogwood Initiative 2001 (1) Introduction

1. Introduction

For centuries, Hiroshima City has grown up nestled among the green mountains and foothills of the Chugoku Mountain Range. To the south it opens onto the tranquil Seto Inland Sea, while through it run the Ota-gawa, the Seno-gawa, and several other rivers. Few cities anywhere in the world are as blessed by such an abundance of water and greenery.

However, on August 6, 1945, the first atomic bombing in human history took hundreds of thousands of precious lives and dealt a devastating blow to the natural environment. It was said at the time that nothing would grow here for 75 years. Thus, it was green shoots springing up from the scorched earth that gave a despairing populace the hope and courage to go on. For the people of Hiroshima, "greenery" is a symbol of peace that means life itself.

The Dogwood Initiative 2001 was an effort to revitalize the goodwill symbolized by the cherry-for-dogwood tree exchange that took place between the US and Japan early in the 20th century. The seeds and seedlings donated by Americans for the 2001 initiative have been carefully cultivated and will be planted along the Kyobashi-gawa River as a green and growing manifestation of US-Japanese goodwill and desire for peace.

The cherry-for-dogwood tree exchange

In 1912, then Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki sent cherry trees as a gift to the United States. In return, the US government sent dogwood trees to Japan in 1915 and 1917. The cherry trees now line the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., a popular attraction and a beautiful symbol of US-Japan goodwill.

In Japan, only a few of the donated dogwoods remain, and these are to be found in the Koishikawa Botanical Garden affiliated with the Science Department of Tokyo University. At the present, there is no stand of dogwood trees anywhere serving to remind the public of that original exchange.

Related Information

• Dogwood Photo Album
  Seedlings,and the Results
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (2) Request to US Citizens for Donations of Dogwood Seeds and Seedlings、 and the Results
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (3) List of Donations from the United States to the Dogwood Initiative 2001
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (4) Dogwood Promenade
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (5) Future Image of Dogwood Promenade
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (6) Dogwood Characteristics
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (7) Dogwood Volunteers
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (8) Dogwood Planting Ceremony
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (9) Dogwood-planting Activities
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (10) Donor Messages
• Dogwood Initiative 2001 (11) Millenium Bridge