Elementary school pupils plant trees for later use as lumber to rebuild Shuri Castle

Elementary school pupils plant trees for later use as lumber to rebuild Shuri Castle

On November 14 in Higashi Village elementary school pupils plant yew plum pine saplings in the hope that these trees will be used to reconstruct Shuri Castle. (Photograph courtesy of Naoya Oshiro)


November 15, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

On November 14 a council for cultivating trees for use in the restoration of wooden buildings starting with Shuri Castle, the Tree-Cultivating Council for Shuri Castle (chaired by Kanko Teruya), tended to yew plum pine and fukugi trees in the national forest in Taira, Higashi Village.

Higashi Village 4th-year elementary school pupils also came to try their hands at fertilizing and planting saplings.

Since the Council’s establishment in 2008, it has planted and managed the cultivation of about 1,800 trees such as yew plum pines and Quercus miyagii in national parks in Ada, Kunigami Village and Taira, Higashi Village.

Under the guidance of Council staff such as the Okinawa district forest office, pupils skillfully fertilize and trim the saplings.

Ayuto Kinjo, 10, said, “Since we had planned to go to Shuri Castle on a field trip, I was sad to hear about this fire.

I hope the trees here are useful in the future”. Eito Awa, 10, said, “It was my first time planting trees, it was fun. I hope the trees grow big, soon”.

As concerns the Shuri Castle fire, Chairman Teruya said, “At this point in time the necessary wood supply for reconstruction is not enough. I hope these efforts continue for 100 or 200 years to come”.

(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)

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