A few years ago, I was lucky to meet and sit across from hibakusha - survivors of the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This conversation made me rethink everything that I had previously learned about nuclear weapons. I had never heard about the aftermath of the atomic bombings, such as acid rain nor the struggle of hibakusha to get medical care.
When listening to the stories of hibakusha, like activists Soh Horie and Koko Kondo, I was granted a rare privilege to think about history from a new perspective. I remember my meeting with Soh Horie and her parting message: “think of what you learned in Hiroshima when you return home and please use your talents for humanity”. Over the next few years, I started to research more about nuclear disarmament education, and I moved to Tokyo and befriended Japanese nuclear disarmament activists. Over time, I learned how to advocate for nuclear disarmament while centering those directly affected by nuclear weapons.
In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, some people believed that nothing could survive it. It was possible that nothing could grow due to radiation. But there were living things that survived. Hibakujumoku is one of the most striking examples of this. They are trees that have survived the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over the past few decades, dedicated groups around the world have looked after many of these trees and collected their seeds.
While reading about this, I learned that hibakujumoku seeds are sometimes sent abroad. As an artist and poet, I was fascinated by the use of botany as a means of expression of dissent and memorization. Hibakujumoku act as living memorials to what happened in Hiroshima on 6 August and Nagasaki on 9 August in 1945.
Around the same time, I participated in the UN Youth Champion for Disarmament training programme and was asked to create a project for disarmament. I found myself thinking about Soh Horie’s parting words and everything that I had learned about hibakujumoku. I came up with my project Seeds of Peace, an initiative where hibakujumoku are planted across institutions in the Americas and beyond. I was told early on that the members of the UN Staff Recreation Council Garden Club were interested in planting hibakujumoku in the United Nations Food Garden.
As a result of guidance from my wonderful mentors, Soo Hyun Kim and Elena Batani, I was quickly connected to Green Legacy Hiroshima and various other interest groups. I compiled lists of the species of hibakujumoku trees available and which ones could be planted in which countries. I visited the UN Gardening Club’s food garden and met with members of the gardening club. It was nice hearing about how this garden brightened up people’s days. Now, all I needed to do was wait.
About half a year later the day for the planting of hibakujumoku in New York arrived on 5 May 2025. To my excitement, I found out that the planting ceremony would involve a lot more people than I had expected. The ceremony was attended by H.E. Mr. Philemon Yang, President of the General Assembly and Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs as well as H.E. Mr. Kazuyuki Yamazaki, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, UN Gardening Club members, UNODA staff and youth representatives. There were also media outlets and UN TV present.
I arrived at the UNHQ with a haiku, and the keychain I received all those years ago from the mayor of Hiroshima. I performed the haiku – a poem I wrote for the occasion, but the highlight of the ceremony for me was being the first person to put soil on one of the hibakujumoku. When I kneeled and put soil near the roots of the tree, I realized that I want to keep sowing seeds of peace, literally and figuratively. Whether it’s expanding this hibakujumoku planting beyond the Americas or researching gun trafficking laws or writing stories about the future of peace in an ever-changing geopolitical climate, I find I am never bored of disarmament. There is always more to do. And the best part is that I am not alone – I am one of many advocates around the world who actively work towards a more peaceful future.
Germinate
Here lies shattered dreams,
among warped glass and boiled tiles,
Yet here a tree grows
- Charlotte Yeung, UN Youth Champion for Disarmament
