Seeds from trees that survived the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima will be planted at a botanical garden in Oslo on Saturday, a day before the award ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize is held in the city.
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, Nagasaki Mayor Tomohisa Taue and more than 20 hibakusha will attend the seed-planting ceremony at the University of Oslo garden. They will be visiting the Norwegian capital along with members of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the group that won this year's prize for advocating a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.
The seeds, taken from ginkgo, hackberry, holly and jujube trees that withstood the bombing despite growing near ground zero in downtown Hiroshima, will be presented to the botanical garden at its request, according to Green Legacy Hiroshima Initiative, a civic group that works to conserve trees that survived the attack.