On 5th of March 1996, the very first planting of “the seedling of the bombed kaki tree” took place in the schoolyard of then Ryuhoku Elementary School in Taito-ku, Tokyo. Children from the class 1 in the third grade participated in the event among others. Unfortunately, in March 2001, the elementary school closed and the tree was moved to the adjacent Ryuhoku Park thanks to then PTA members.
Planting Ceremony / Ryuhoku Elementary School
The 10th anniversary ceremony of the planting, “The Harvest of KAKI,” took place on 19th of August 2006. Under the kaki tree, which has grown to about 5m high, Ms Yuko Hatakeyama, who initiated the planting and then the teacher in charge of the class 1, and the former 13 pupils as well as other key persons such as Mr Ebinuma, Mr Koike, PTA members, Tatsuo Miyajima and Ms Masami Yokoyama, an executive committee member, reunited. The former pupils of Ms Hatakeyama’s class and the Kaki Tree Project executive committee members have been preparing for the 10th anniversary ceremony for a year. In the multipurpose hall of Asakusabashi community center, the photos of the first planting 10 years before were put on display. After Mr Ebinuma delivered a message, everyone had a toast with juice and listened to a story of tree transplanting by Mr Nobuo Koike and an interesting story in the classroom back then by Ms Yuko Hatakeyama. At the time of the planting, Tatsuo Miyajima ran a workshop, during which each child chose two LED digits, which were mounted on a huge drawing inspired by the kaki tree, and signed his/her name. They also adjusted the blink speed of one of the LED displays. The blink speed of the other LED display was adjusted by them on this day, as promised 10 years before, and the kaki drawing has been completed. Everyone waited until it got dark and then moved to the adjacent Ryuhoku Park. The kaki tree was decorated with a lot of red LED lights and a cheer arose from the people surrounding the tree when the lights were lit. The tree looked very beautiful with the red lights lit against the summer night sky. Everyone celebrated children’s and the tree’s growth. It was a very successful 10th anniversary celebration.
