The friendship between China and Japan was strengthened again on March 28, as 40 new cherry trees were planted on Wuxi's Turtle Head Isle for the 30th consecutive year.
Groups from Japan have been travelling to Wuxi to plant the trees as a gesture of peace and solidarity since 1988. The tradition would not have survived through the years without the efforts of these groups, including Hasegawa Kiyomi and Shibata Yutaka, the first and the current leader of the cherry plantation organization.
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Shibata Yutaka, chairman of the Sino-Japanese Cherry Plantation Association, attends the opening ceremony of the 2017 Wuxi International Cherry Blossom Week in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on March 28. [Photo by Wang Jia/chinadaily.com.cn] |
The cherry plantation NGO was established by Hasegawa Kiyomi in 1986. Hasegawa had experienced the ruthless War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in China, and realized that the two nations should keep peace forever. Holding the creed of plating friendship seeds, Hasegawa set up the organization which had sent more than 10,000 Japanese people to China over the 30 years to plant cherry trees.
"Most of the visitors in attendance at this year's cherry blossom week event have their own works and the eldest being 88 years old," said Shibata, current leader of the organization. He added, these volunteers make use of their spare time to take part in Sino-Japanese friendship activities.
