As Mrs. Mari Sakaguchi and her husband Mr. Denis Pesavento who live in Villaverla in the province of Vicenza, Italy participated in the tree plating ceremony at the Villa Venier Park in Sommacampagna, held in 2004, they wanted to organize the project in the province of Vicenza. They consulted with Mr. Rosario Manisera who led the project in Brescia and contacted the person in charge of cultural programs at the Villaverla city hall in order to proceed with the project. Their original plan was to plant the tree at one site in the city, however, the matter was even discussed at the provincial assembly and at the end it became a big project with 10 tree planting sites in the province of Vicenza.
Following the tree plantings at Scuola Elementare Sarcedo and Zugliano Elementary School on 21st of April, at the Montecchio Precalcino Library and Dueville Middle School on 22nd, and at Arnaldo Fusinato Elementary School, Middle School, and at Collodi Elementary School on 23rd, the tree planting at Villaverla Park took place on 24th. The Villaverla Park was the last planting site of the 10 planned for the project. The place has become a symbolic planting site of the province of Vicenza where Mrs. Mari and Mr. Denis’ determination towards peace culminated.
There is an old building inside the park which is used as the children’s community center. There, the displays and workshops that occupied the entire space were impressively powerful but at the same time created a warm atmosphere. As many residents of the city, both adults and children, flocked to the site, the access was limited at one point. The ceremony held inside the building was attended by about 200 local people. After the speeches given by the mayor, Mr. Nishiyama of the Japanese Consulate and Mr. Ebinuma, they all went outside and planted the tree in the park. After the tree planting, people enjoyed the exhibitions held inside the building and various workshops conducted by the Associazione Culturale Fuji, which also cooperated with us last year.
The local fresco artists Mr. Hideo Sakata and his wife Yumiko exhibited their banner and as other artworks and drawings by the school children where the seedlings had been planted until the previous day were displayed again, so the place seemed to turn into a museum of Kaki. There were also an exhibition of photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombings as well as a large scale exhibition of the local artists including some installations with a theme of “Peace”
There were a great number of events and workshops to introduce Japanese culture and to promote international exchange including the workshops by the members of the Associazione Culturale Fuji of Yukata-wearing, Japanese calligraphy, Origami and tea ceremony. There were also demonstrations of the Japanese archery and Japanese art of drawing one’s sward.
