Hiroshima Receives Olive Tree from Italy as Symbol of Peace on 80th Anniversary

Summary

An olive tree donated by the Italian asso­ci­a­tion Città dell’Olio has been planted in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park to sym­bol­ize a com­mit­ment to peace 80 years after the atomic bomb­ing. The cer­e­mony included Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, Italian del­e­gates, and a bless­ing rite, empha­siz­ing a shared com­mit­ment to peace and respect for human rights.

An olive tree donated by the Italian asso­ci­a­tion Città dell’Olio (Olive Oil Cities) has been planted in the heart of Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park as a sym­bol of com­mit­ment to peace, mark­ing 80 years since the atomic bomb­ing of the city.

I sin­cerely hope that this olive tree will grow strong and tall over the years, sprout leaves of sol­i­dar­ity with the cities of the world and bear the most impor­tant fruit: a world free from con­flict.- Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima

A cer­e­mony for the plant­ing of the ​‘Olive Tree of Peace’ was held on November 11 in the pres­ence of Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, munic­i­pal author­i­ties and an Italian del­e­ga­tion. The del­e­ga­tion included Città dell’Olio pres­i­dent Michele Sonnessa and direc­tor gen­eral Antonio Balenzano, as well as Italy’s con­sul gen­eral in Osaka, Filippo Manara, and rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the Italian Embassy in Japan.

“It is a great plea­sure for me to receive this olive tree, per­me­ated with hope for peace, from the Italian peo­ple,” Matsui said as he opened the cer­e­mony. ​“I sin­cerely hope that this olive tree will grow strong and tall over the years, sprout leaves of sol­i­dar­ity with the cities of the world and bear the most impor­tant fruit: a world free from con­flict.”

The mayor added that Hiroshima remains deeply com­mit­ted to pro­mot­ing a cul­ture of peace and invited the Italian peo­ple to join the city in spread­ing that mes­sage in every­day life.

Following the plant­ing, a brief bless­ing rite was per­formed, for­mally entrust­ing the tree to the city. The olive tree, of the Leccino vari­ety, one of the most widely cul­ti­vated in Italy, was cho­sen to rep­re­sent the entire coun­try sym­bol­i­cally.

The cer­e­mony con­cluded with the unveil­ing of a bronze plaque donated by Città dell’Olio. Inscribed in Japanese and Italian, it expresses the shared com­mit­ment of Italy and Japan to sol­i­dar­ity among peo­ples, to peace­ful coex­is­tence, and to respect for human rights.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Città dell’Olio president Michele Sonnessa unveil a plaque expressing Italy and Japan’s commitment to peace

“Planting an olive tree in Hiroshima is not merely a sym­bolic ges­ture, but a con­crete com­mit­ment to the future,” Sonnessa said. ​“The olive tree bears a mes­sage of peace that speaks a uni­ver­sal lan­guage: it grows slowly, resists storms and con­tin­ues to bear fruit even after its wounds.”

Before the cer­e­mony, par­tic­i­pants attended a press con­fer­ence, vis­ited the Peace Memorial Museum and observed a moment of reflec­tion in mem­ory of the vic­tims of the August 6, 1945, atomic bomb­ing.

The ini­tia­tive, orga­nized by Città dell’Olio and the city of Hiroshima in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Italy-Japan Foundation and the Italian-Japanese Association of Hiroshima Viva Italia, renewed a com­mit­ment first made in 1995. On the 50th anniver­sary of the atomic bomb­ing, Città dell’Olio donated an olive tree to Hiroshima, which con­tin­ues to thrive in the park today.

During the cer­e­mony, Sonnessa and Balenzano recalled words spo­ken last year by Pope Francis, who said peace should ​“spring forth in the heart of every per­son, in every peo­ple and nation, in every cor­ner of the earth, like an olive tree pro­tected from the winds of war and nour­ished by those who strive to live in fra­ter­nity.”

Città dell’Olio has pro­moted peace through a range of ini­tia­tives. As part of the 2025 Jubilee cel­e­bra­tions, it pro­vided 200,000 olive branches, together with the munic­i­pal­ity of Rome, for the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, accom­pa­nied by calls for cease­fires in Gaza and Ukraine.

During the ninth edi­tion of Camminata tra gli Olivi (“Walking Among the Olive Trees”) Day, which drew thou­sands of par­tic­i­pants across more than 150 Italian cities, each munic­i­pal­ity marked the occa­sion by plant­ing an olive tree under the ban­ner ​“Let’s Cultivate Peace.”

Organizers said the plant­ing of the ​‘Olive Tree of Peace’ in Hiroshima rep­re­sents both the sym­bolic con­clu­sion of that nation­wide event and the first step in a broader series of actions aimed at pro­mot­ing peace on a global scale.