Spirit of miracle pine tree to live on

December 25, 2017

Minamisoma, Fukushima Pref.- The only pine tree that miraculously survived monster tsunami in 2011 in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, is set to be cut down on Wednesday.

Kazuo Goga, 77, who has been taking care of the lone pine tree in Kashima Ward of the city in the northeastern Japan prefecture, known as "Kashima no Ipponmatsu," reluctantly agreed to the move.

The tree, which withered this year, will be cut down to make way for forestation at the same site to prevent damage from a possible tsunami. Seedlings from the pine are expected to be planted there.

The tsunami unleashed by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011, destroyed Goga's "mundane" life with his wife, his oldest son and his wife, and three grandchildren.

The lives of 54 people in Kashima's Minamimigita district, where his house was located, were lost in the disaster. The victims included many close friends of Goga.

His family survived, but the huge wave washed away his house and rice paddies.

"I was stunned (by the disaster) rather than saddened," Goga recalled.

After the tsunami, he saw one pine tree still standing on the coastline while others were gone.

"I feel like the lone pine tree holds the sprits of the victims," Goga said.

A group established by Goga in 2013 to protect the tree was joined by 16 local residents and has grown to some 160 members across the country.

Although the group has provided medical treatment to Kashima no Ipponmatsu, based on advice from a tree doctor, and weeded the nearby area, the health of the tree started worsening two years ago and it died this year.

"The day starts here," Goga said. In the past two years, he has visited the tree and taken its pictures every morning, which give different impressions depending on the morning light, clouds and other natural conditions.

Goga and other group members plan to make nameplates from the tree's trunk and distribute them to former residents of the district, which was incorporated into a neighboring district in April this year.

"You've done a great job for a long time," Goga said to the tree. "Thank you." Jiji Press