まさか、こんな日が来るなんて。75年前の8月6日。いつもの朝を一瞬にして奪われた人々の絶望を、いつしか希望に変えた木があります。人影が消え、75年は草木も生えないだろうといわれた広島の地で、どんなことがあっても、まっすぐに上を向いて生きてきた一本のクスノキ。その姿は、先の見えない日々にくじけそうな人々を、無言で励ましてくれました。復興に向かって新しい街づくりが動き出したとき、平和記念公園の慰霊碑と原爆ドームをつなぐ軸線の先に立っていた、この大きな被爆樹木は今も、同じ場所で伸びつづけています。あまりにまっすぐなので、タンスの材料になりかけたこともありました。台風や大雨など、自然の猛威にさらされることもありました。それでも生きぬいて、広島の被爆樹木の中で一番背の高い木になったのです。今年の夏も緑の両手を伸ばしている、クスノキと同じ空を見上げてみませんか。これからもきっと、生きる力をくれる被爆樹木たちを、見守っていきませんか。

Who would have thought this day would come, 75 years ago on August 6. There is a tree that turned despair into hope for those who lost everything in one instant, on a morning just like any other. In Hiroshima, where people had vanished and it was said that nothing green would grow for 75 years, there is a camphor tree who has stood straight and tall, thriving despite all odds. This proud tree was a source of encouragement for those struggling to move forward in the face of looming uncertainty. When the city began the process of building itself up from the ground again, this massive A-Bombed Trees stood at the axis of the Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims in Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome; the same place in which it stands and grows today. There was a time when it was once slated to become wood for a chest, prized for its straight-growing trunk. There were also times where the tree faced the fury of nature, braving typhoons and pummeling rains. But still the tree lived on, becoming the tallest A-Bombed Trees in all of Hiroshima. Come and look up at the same sky as this camphor tree as it extends its graceful green arms in the summer. Witness the A-Bombed Trees in their glory as they continue to inspire hope in this generation and bayond.