Inviting spirit trees in hiroshima peace memorial park

Paired Ogatama-no-ki stand guard at the Memorial Mound lying in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Legend has it that Ogatama-no-ki was originally Ogitama-no-ki, meaning inviting spirit tree. This tree has been believed to be favored by gods, goddesses, spirits and numi who would descend and possess the tree when invited. Its academic name is Michelia compressa, family Magnoliaceae. In early spring, fragrant white flowers come into bloom. This site gives you lots of pictures of this tree.

Under the mound is made the vault where some 70,000 unidentified ashes have been enshrined. Numerous corpses were brought in and cremated around here after the a-bombing. Many were cremated without identification; while some 800 were identified but nobody came to claim for. In many cases, families were sacrificed in their entirety. This site, part of Hiroshima Peace Site, an official web site introducing the peace museum and park, gives you precise information about the mound. Go to this site, choose English, and click Guide to Peace Memorial Park to know about the peace park in general.

Now the trees silently greet the visitors; nearby are the colorful paper cranes, symbol of peace in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, dedicated to the deceased.  

One interesting fact:

The tree is designed on Japanese one-yen coin, though many of us don’t even notice. In the same URL I already mentioned, a clear photo of one-yen coin is viewed.


Today's Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake bulletin:

The number of workers who have been exposed to radiation exceeding 100 millisieverts at the plant came to 19 as of March 28, TEPCO said.

Exposure to 100 millisieverts is the legal limit for nuclear plant workers dealing with an emergency, but the limit has been raised to 250 millisieverts during the ongoing crisis, the worst Japan has seen, at the plant some 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.

Among the 19, three received treatment at a radiation research center in Chiba Prefecture after they were exposed to radiation of 173 to 180 millisieverts Thursday. They were discharged Monday, with officials of the center saying the exposure has not affected their health.

From Kyodo