Flowers for reconstruction bloom in Kobe

Ichinomiya Shrine in the center of Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, was destroyed by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. Five years after the earthquake, a wintersweet tree was planted on the site to symbolize hope of reconstruction. The tree was 70 centimeters at the time but has now grown to seven meters tall. It blooms each January, the month of the earthquake.