The Ginkgo trees were brought to Japan by the Buddhist monks coming from China, so they were initially planted nearby temples. Ginkgo is one of the oldest and most resilient plants (it is considered a “living fossil") and is also one of the longest living trees, there are specimens considered older than 2000 years! Six Ginkgo trees from Hiroshima are famous because they survived to the atomic bomb, still living today.

I wrote one year ago about the death of the 1000-year-old Ginkgo tree from Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura, the kakure-icho (隠れ銀杏 - hidden ginkgo), uprooted by a powerful storm. But the roots and a trunk part were replanted and they began to grow!
So, after less than a year, I visited the shrine again and, to my delight, I discovered (and photographed) that this wonder of nature is reviving:

The replanted Ginkgo Tree from Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura

EXIF Info:

Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Rare and odd statue, Fasting Buddha