RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--The root system of a lone pine tree that withstood last year's earthquake and tsunami will also be treated and preserved along with the trunk.
RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--The root system of a lone pine tree that withstood last year's earthquake and tsunami will also be treated and preserved along with the trunk.
The only surviving tree in the city's famed Takata Matsubara pine forest, the "miracle tree" quickly became a symbol of hope for reconstruction.
But with the tree dying from the effects of the saltwater that had soaked its root and leaf system, the city felled it in September so its trunk could be preserved and reinstalled for display as a monument to the disaster.
The root system with many branches, including some measuring about 6 meters, was plowed up and hauled out by crane shortly after 11:30 in the morning on Dec. 6.