Address from Consul General Takaoka: Ginkgo Tree for Peace planting ceremony at the Benmore Botanic Garden
2020/10/14
Mr. Fry, Mr. Baxter, ladies, and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for the kind introduction and inviting me to this great Benmore Botanic Garden, obviously a huge garden including the Redwood Avenue over there, which makes me feel as if we were visiting California. After the ceremony, I am looking forward to enjoying a stroll in the Japanese Valley. I understand that we could even appreciate Tasmanian, Chilean, and Bhutanese floras and atmosphere in this magnificent mountainside setting if we had time.
This is our second time to plant these precious Ginkgo trees grown from the seeds of the mother tree which survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 75 years ago. I am truly grateful to Mr. Fry and representatives of the RBGE for not just taking very good care of the precious seeds but also choosing the perfect locations for them to start their new life here in Scotland as well as physically traveling more than 100 miles from Edinburgh to plant them with shovels in our hands.
We all know that our joint efforts will be rewarded as these Ginkgo trees will tell a powerful story of regeneration and world peace, together with their beautiful golden foliage, for many decades to come. It is indeed symbolic and appropriate that we have planted them in this auspicious year, commemorating 350 years of history of the RBGE.
We all know that our joint efforts will be rewarded as these Ginkgo trees will tell a powerful story of regeneration and world peace, together with their beautiful golden foliage, for many decades to come. It is indeed symbolic and appropriate that we have planted them in this auspicious year, commemorating 350 years of history of the RBGE.
Since our last tree planting ceremony at RBGE, I had exchanged messages with the First Minister of Scotland and the Mayor of Hiroshima. The Right Honourable Nicola Sturgeon kindly praised "the recent planting of three precious ginkgo trees" in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as "an act of humanity, partnership and diplomacy".
Mr. Kazumi Matsui asked me to send his best wishes so that the planted ginkgo trees should witness the growing momentum for nuclear abolition and world peace.
I am glad to note that today, we will certainly deepen the roots of friendship between Japan and Scotland. Although we are still in the middle of the pandemic, we will eventually overcome this coronavirus with the tenacity and healing power represented by these Ginkgo Trees.
Thank you all once again for joining us in prayer. Thank you.
Thank you all once again for joining us in prayer. Thank you.