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NAGASAKI Kusunoki project

 

13The Evergreen Witch-Hazel at the Torishima Residence in Fuchi-machi(1)

Tree data

  • Variety

    Isunoki (evergreen witch hazel, Distylium racemosum)

  • Height

    Around 4.1m

  • Trunk circumference

    49cm at chest height

  • Owner

    Privately owned

 

This evergreen witch-hazel quietly stands in the front of a private residence in Fuchi-machi, which is in the downstream stretch of the River Urakami that flows through the northern part of Nagasaki City. Looking up at the tree from the road its foliage is so profuse that at first glance it does not look like a bombed tree at all. However, a closer inspection reveals that the side of the trunk facing the hypocenter is gouged and blackened. According to the owners, in terms of height the tree has stopped growing perhaps due to the bombing.

The residence where the tree stands is located around 1.6km from the hypocenter and at the time of the bombing it was struck by heat rays and then the tremendous blast wave. Nearly all the houses nearby were burned down to the ground in the subsequent fires

There were two evergreen witch-hazel trees at this residence, but one was confirmed to have died in 2018 and is now preserved at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum as a bombed tree material. Hopefully the surviving tree will continue to grow healthily and live on to make up for the years of its companion that were cut short.

A-Bombed Trees