The Club celebrates its history while reinforcing its ties with Fukushima with the planting of a cherry tree from the prefecture.
Hosted by the Culture, Community & Entertainment Committee, the ceremony will see a sapling grafted from the ancient Miharu Takizakura tree (pictured) planted in the small garden behind Traders’ Bar.
The sapling is donated by the Fukushima town of Miharu, which was the ancestral home of the Akita clan of samurai. During the Edo period, the clan also resided on the land where the Azabudai Club now sits.
The mayor of Miharu, Hiroyuki Sakamoto, and other local officials will attend this special event.
The ceremony is timed with the “Tokyo American Club: Through the Years” history exhibition, which runs from January 17 to February 6 at the Frederick Harris Gallery.
The Club’s more recent connections to Fukushima stretch back to 2011. Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the Tohoku region in March of that year, the Club began a series of initiatives to support schoolchildren and tourism in the prefecture.
