lapisnev

Don't squeeze me, I fart

Things that make you go 🤌. Weird computer stuff. Artist and general creative type. Occasionally funny. Gentoo on main. I play rhythm games!

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notable-trees
@notable-trees

A sole survivor of a seaside forest buried by a tsunami, now preserved as taxidermy.

The Takata Pine Forest was first planted in 1667, consisting of 6200 Japanese black and red pine trees meant to protect the town and port from the winds and waters of the ocean. It was expanded in the coming decades both by further human planting and the natural growth and germination of the trees, eventually reaching some 70,000 trees in number. The forest served its intended purpose multiple times, protecting the village from tsunamis resulting from the 1896 Sanriku earthquake, 1933 Sanriku earthquake and the 1960 Valdivia earthquake.

Beyond function, the forest was loved. Standing against the water, pines against a white sand beach, the Takata Pine Forest was beautiful. It was designated as such, placed on the list of Japan's "Places of Scenic Beauty" in 1940 and one of the "100 Landscapes of Japan " of the Shōwa era.

In 2011, a 9.0 - 9.1 magnitude earthquake occurred 45 miles (72 km) off the coast of the Tōhoku region. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. The resulting tsunami killed almost 20 thousand people, razed villages, and caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl.

When the Tōhoku tsunami hit the Takata Pine Forest, the wave crest was over 33 feet (10 meters) high and traveling at hundreds of miles per hour. It destroyed 80% of the homes in Rikuzentakata and leveled all 70,000 of the pine trees. Except one.

The Miracle Pine Tree (Kiseki no Ippon matsu) was, somehow, left standing. 90 feet high, spindly, a long trunk with a leafy top, the pine cut an impossible silhouette among the wreckage of forest, houses, and shoreline. It became a symbol of hope and resilience for the region. The mayor of Rikuzentakata said; "for those of us who were left suffering after the disaster, the miracle pine gave us the strength and hope to carry on living." Because a tree remained, the Takata Pine Forest's Places of Scenic Beauty designation was never revoked.

However, while the tree survived the wave, it could not survive the water; despite attempts at soil remediation, the salt deposited around its roots killed the pine 18 months later, in 2012. After its death, the trunk was cut into nine sections and hollowed out, then reassembled onto a carbon frame with branches and leaves made of a synthetic resin. It was re-erected in place, mounted onto a concrete base where it once grew.

These grounds have become the site of the Takata Matsubara Tsunami Reconstruction Memorial Park, where tree planting efforts have recently begun. The Miracle Pine now casts its long shadow on 2500 new pine seedlings.



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in reply to @notable-trees's post:

I've been looking for an old, handcrafted html website about the trees that survived the american nuclear bombings of japan. Looked very one person project If anyone finds it, i would love a link.

It had a very barebones and stark look, with maybe a cobble white and ginko-y, canary yellow color scheme. maybe dot net or dot jp domain. I think each tree had their own page and the font size and styles were all over the place, scrapbook feel

And thank you treekeepers for all the Tree Time With Trees over the years

in reply to @ireneista's post: