A MUST READ: This almost 400-year-old bonsai survived the bombing of Hiroshima
Members of the Yamaki family had not only cared for and styled the bonsai, but did so for a full five generations.
AUGUST 6, 1945 is a day the world will not easily forget – an American B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima.
Instantly, 80 000 people were killed and 90 percent of the city was wiped out.
Thousands upon thousands of people died in the days that followed as a result of exposure to radiation.
The research and development of Little Boy (the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima) cost the United States government $2-Billion at the time.
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Now, here is a little something you might not know – something else survived the blast and is now nearly 400-years-old.
It’s a Japanese white pine bonsai and it’s history wasn’t known until 2001 when the Arboretum at which it is housed, was visited by bonsai master, Masaru Yamaki’s grandchildren who had come to see the tree for themselves.
Ever since then, the bonsai’s history has been widely shared by the U.S. National Arboretum.
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The white pine was donated to the US National Arboretum during the 1976 American Bicentennial and it has been there for the last 42 years.
Members of the Yamaki family had not only – before the donation – cared for, and styled the bonsai, but did so for a full five generations.
bonsaiempire.com has even included the near 400-year-old Little Boy survivor in it’s Top 5: Oldest Bonsai Trees category.
Coming in at first place is a century old Ficus currently housed at Italy’s Crespi Bonsai Museum.
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