The Father of the “Saplings of the Bombed Kaki Tree”
Masayuki Ebinuma (Arborist)
Born on 7 March, 1949 in Takahagi City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Moved to Nagasaki in 1977 and runs a gardening business. In 1993, received a registration certificate of “Arborist,” authorized by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and started to diagnose, treat, protect and nurture trees while still running the gardening business. In May 1994, he saved the A-bombed kaki tree and later succeeded in raising seedlings of the tree which was severely damaged by the bombing and being left untreated for a long time. Now he distributes these saplings across the country as a “Symbol of Peace.”
The Father of the “Kaki Tree Project”
Tatsuo Miyajima (Contemporary Artist)
Born on 16 January, 1957 in Tokyo. Miyajima received his master’s degree from the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of Arts. He was invited to participate in the Aperto exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 1988 and his work using digital counters attracted international attention. He has participated in many exhibitions both at home and abroad since then. His works are collected by the Tate Gallery, London, the Museum of Modern Art, Munich and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. He is the founder of the “Revive Time: Kaki Tree Project.”
Project Advisor
Nobuo Koike (Arborist)
Born on 17 July, 1939 in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo. Lives in Tokyo. Graduated from the Tokyo Metropolitan Engei High School (Gardening Course). Managing Director of Koike Noen (farm) Company Limited. Provides health assessment of 30,000 street trees within Edogawa-ku, and assesses strength in trees in Inokashira Park and Omotesando of Meiji Shrine. He also gives lectures on plants mainly in elementary schools.
Kaki Tree Project Executive Committee
Promotes the “Revive Time: Kaki Tree Project”, an art project which connects the saplings from the bombed kaki tree with children around the world. It calls for fostering the saplings and selects suitable planting sites every year, and provides support in various areas such as event planning and transport of saplings.