Category: Archives

There were two persimmon seedlings displayed at the group exhibition of Japanese artists “Donai Yanen!” which was held from 22nd of September through 15th of November 1998 in Paris. One seedling was planted at the Cistude Nature Park in 1999 after receiving the application from Mrs.Chantal Russell Le Roux, who lives in Bordeaux, France. The other one was kept and well taken care of by Mr. Eric Mezil, the organizer of the exhibition, after he moved to a museum in Avignon. 　 In 2004, Mr. Mezil was going to organize a similar exhibition called “Akimahen!” in Lille and he informed us that he wanted to introduce the Kaki Tree Project… Read more »

Dr. Filippo Cerasoli is the executive manager of the city of Francavilla al Mare. He implements projects of environmental conservation and green space promotion in the city. He heard about the Kaki Tree Project from an artist who was previously involved in the project in Italy and applied for the project. They planted two seedlings on 1st of April, during the city’s flower expo. At the tree planting ceremony, the children from the Japanese School in Rome arranged Ikebana.

Ms. Wendy Atherton, a teacher of Hollygirt School, applied for the project in 2003. The school conducted several workshops in class before the tree planting ceremony and put up decorations on the screen inspired by the Japanese culture. Mr. Ebinuma and the executive committee members of the project visited the school on the ceremony day. The ceremony was attended by 50 students and teachers. The executive committee member presented the Kaki Tree Project DVD to the school and they watched it together. The KaKi Tree Fusoshiki (wrapping cloth) was introduced and a simple workshop using the furoshiki was conducted. In the presence of Mr. Ebinuma they planted two seedlings in… Read more »

St. Elizabeth’s Centre is a 100-year-old care facility for people with epilepsy. The Centre also comprises a special school for young people with epilepsy. That year, the Centre was planning events in which the Centre, the school and local residents could join together to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The project leader of the 100th anniversary events was Mr. Ray Rolfe, an artist.. He also participated in and helped run the tree planting ceremony at the Finsbury Park, London in 2001. At that time, he felt that “a positive consciousness was developed among the participants” and that’s why he applied for the tree planting at the St. Elizabeth’s Centre. On the… Read more »

Mr. Lucio Allegri, the chairman of the Associazione Culturale Locomotiva Fumante (Locomotiva Fumante Cultural Association), applied for the project and the seedling was planted in the Villa Venier Park. Inside the park, there is “villa Venier”, a historical building that was built in 1800 and on the day of the tree planting ceremony, many colorful drawings and messages by children were on display inside the villa. The tree planting ceremony was held in the park and after speeches given by the acting mayor, the chairman and Mr. Masayuki Ebinuma, the two seedlings were planted by the children while the local brass band performed. They also released a lot of colorful… Read more »

Mr. Rosario Manisera of Associazione culturale italo giapponese Fuji, a friend of Mr. Duilio Zogno who led the project in Brescia, Italy in 2000, introduced the project and tree planting was carried out at 3 sites, Aleardi Nursery School, Rivoltella Nursery School and the Garden Center. On the day of the tree planting, the tree planting ceremony at Rivoltella Nursery school was held in the morning and the ceremony at Aleardi Nursery School was held at 3pm. A lot of children from the school and their parents gathered and they planted a seedling in the presence of Mr. Ebinuma in the schoolyard. A number of persimmon tree pictures were pasted… Read more »

Mr. Rosario Manisera of Associazione culturale italo giapponese Fuji, a friend of Mr. Duilio Zogno who led the project in Brescia, Italy in 2000, introduced the project and tree planting was carried out at 3 sites in the city of Desenzano, namely Aleardi Nursery School, Rivoltella Nursery School and the Garden Center. Aleardi Nursery School and Rivoltella Nursery School were new schools just opened in that year. They applied for the project to celebrate their opening of the school. The nursery school initially wanted to plant the seedling in September 2003 at the same time as the opening of the school, however, they take the planting conditions for the seedling… Read more »

Mr. Rosario Manisera of Associazione culturale italo giapponese Fuji, a friend of Mr. Duilio Zogno who led the project in Brescia, Italy in 2000, introduced the project and tree planting was carried out at 2 nursery schools (Aleardi Nursery School and Rivoltella Nursery School) as well as the Garden Center in the city. In the morning of the 20th of March, the day when the tree planting ceremonies at the two nursery schools were to be held, two seedlings were handed over to the Garden Center staff from the executive committee members of the project.. Later, the trees were planted in front of the house. The same plate which is… Read more »

Mr. Toru Nukui, the PTA president of the Toride City Second Junior High School, introduced the Kaki Project to the school and the school applied for the project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the school. Every year, 2 students are chosen from each junior high school in the city and are dispatched to Hiroshima as goodwill ambassadors. The student council and school staff worked together to plan the tree planting ceremony in order to convey what the students had learned in Hiroshima – the foolishness of war and the preciousness of peace. As the school brass band performed at the tree planting ceremony, a chorus consisted… Read more »

Volunteers from the executive committee of “The Final War at Sekigahara, Ogaki Exhibition” held in Ogaki City in 2000 set up the “O-kaki Project Executive Committee” and are promoting the Kaki Tree Project to elementary schools and junior high schools in Ogaki City. After planting the trees in the park of Ogaki Castle, Kono Elementary School and Higashi Junior High School in 2000, they planted 4 more trees in 2001, 8 more in 2002, 6 more in 2003 and 5 more in 2004 in a place such as Minami Junior High School, Nishi Elementary School, Enami Junior High School, Koubun Junior High School, Ayasato Elementary School. On the 10th of… Read more »

Ms. Ricarda McDonald, the person in charge of the local office, is a tough and passionate artist who always has a smile on her face. In March 2001, the seedling arrived safely in Vancouver, Canada and was temporarily planted in a pot. On the 10th of May 2001, Ms. Ricarda McDonald conducted the workshop for 29 students in the 6th and 7th grades of Fromme Elementary School. She introduced them the Kaki Tree Project and they wrote haiku about the persimmon tree and made Origami persimmons together with the help of Motoko Ogawa, a Japanese woman who lived there. Although at that time the seedling was planted in a pot,… Read more »

Georgia is situated in the Caucasus region of West Asia, an important strategic spot on the Silk Road where exchanges among various ethnic groups happen since prehistoric times. It is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north and east by Russia, to the southeast by Azerbaijan, and to the south by Armenia and Turkey. It is a wine-producing country and is also well-known as the birthplace of wine. The artist from Gloucester, UK, Mr. Bruce Allan (who carried out the Kaki Tree Project on the 15th of March 2002 in Gloucester, UK) and Novvy introduced the project to Chiko in Georgia, and that was how the… Read more »

Mr. Jaap Bremer of the Kröller Müller Museum visited Japan in July 2000 and informed us that they were keen to participate in the project. That was how the Kaki Tree Project at the museum started. The Kaki Tree Project participated in the exhibition “Ikiro/Be alive, Contemporary Art from Japan 1980 until Now” at the Kröller Müller Museum, which was held from 7th of April through 8th of July 2001. Though the seedling that was displayed at the exhibition was to be planted in the ground of the sculpture garden in March 2002, it became weak due to change in environment, so the museum reconsidered the time of planting. After… Read more »

Mr. Udo Mohrstedt, who runs a solar power company, applied for tree planting in July 2000. For 2 years we communicated with each other so that the background of the Kaki Tree Project was fully understood. After repeated negotiations with the local elementary schools, Mr. Udo succeeded to have Adam Riese School to understand the project and tree planting was finally realized after 3 years. Teachers of various subjects at the elementary school created a persimmon week in their classes and prepared for the tree planting ceremony. At the tree planting ceremony, children of the Adam Riese School did a performance which they had rehearsed for this day. Everyone who… Read more »

Totsukawa village is rich in nature and is located along the Totsukawa river that flows through the Yoshino-gun, Nara Prefecture. The people of Nishikawa Junior High School including teachers are close to each other, just like a “family” and they enjoy their life in a wonderful environment rich in nature. The ten third-year students who expected to graduate that year visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum on the school trip so they already felt the importance of peace. Mr. Yuji Nakajima, a teacher at the school who saw the Kaki Tree Project exhibition at the Museum of Art, Kochi, in 2001 applied for the project to celebrate graduation of the… Read more »