1,000 Volunteers Plant 6,000 Trees Largest Event to Date to Replace Shrine Groves Lost in Tsunami

The Shrine Grove Resuscitation Project was launched in 2012, as a way to support northeast Japan’s recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami. Through tree planting, the Nippon Foundation aims to bring together local residents to resuscitate shrine groves and revitalize local communities. The project covers three prefectures – Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima – and is being overseen by Akira Miyawaki, director of the Japanese Center for International Studies in Ecology. This was the ninth event held in Miyagi Prefecture, and the 11th overall.

Approximately 1,000 people gathered for the event, and planted 6,000 trees comprising 25 varieties including shirakashi (Quercus myrsinaefolia; bamboo-leaf oak), tabunoki (Machilus thunbergii), and yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura) on the shrine ground’s roughly 1,279 square meters, making this the project’s largest event. The Nippon Foundation provided support in the amount of ¥17.77 million for soil improvements needed to plant the trees.

The afternoon began with an opening ceremony featuring greetings by the chief priest of Hachiman Shrine and representatives of the prefectural and national shrine associations, the mayor of Tagajo City, and Nippon Foundation executive director Hideo Sato. A local cultural group performed a shishi-odori deer dance that is traditional to the region, and Mami Koyama, a popular animation voice actress, presented a reading of Japanese mythology from the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters).

This was followed by an explanation of how to plant the trees, the actual planting, and a commemorative photograph.