After 64 years, an NC tree still grows tall in Japan — a tribute to firsts in flight
In 1960, Japan’s most celebrated aviator traveled 7,000 miles to the dunes of Kitty Hawk, making a happy pilgrimage to the spot that launched humankind into the sky.
Retired Lt. Gen Yoshitoshi Tokugawa came on the 50th anniversary of his own milestone, the first Japanese pilot to fly a powered aircraft, and he brought a tribute for the Wright brothers who made his feat possible.
While dignitaries looked on, Tokugawa planted a live oak tree at the Wright Brothers Monument in Kill Devil Hills.
And in turn, the town’s mayor sent a collection of pine tree seeds to be planted in Tokyo — a symbol of airborne harmony only 15 years removed from world war.
“Good will was created,” wrote The Coastland Times.
An international tree exchange’s history
I’d never heard of this international tree exchange until last week, when I got an email from Shigeki Minami, editor of the Tsuyama Asahi newspaper in Japan.
It turns out the Kitty Hawk pine that was only a sapling 64 years ago has now grown three stories tall outside Tsuyama High School, which turns 130 years old next year. An elite school, it once drew a visit from Emperor Hirohito during his time as crown prince.
“The pine tree is now growing into a great big tree,” Minami wrote. “Not only is it loved by many students, but it is even referred to on local news sites as a famous landmark in Tsuyama City, like this one.”
To celebrate, Minami’s newspaper is preparing a feature story involving the tree’s arrival, and he was hunting down clues about its movement across years and continents — some of which I could find, some I could not.
But regardless, I felt a historical tug from Orville Wright and Gen. Tokugawa, drawn back into the daring days of early flight by an arboreal anniversary gift.
“Was this the first time you heard about the magnificent Kitty Hawk pine tree growing outside of the United States in the newspaper where you work?” Minami wrote. “If so, I am very happy.”
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A North Carolina tree bound for Japan
Here’s what we know about the tree bound for Japan:
North Carolina Gov. Luther Hodges sent pine seeds to an aviation shrine in Tokyo along with a handful of Kitty Hawk gravel. How the trees ended up at the Tsuyama school, 400 miles away, is still something of a mystery.
We know one of the school’s most distinguished alumni, Masuichi Midoro, donated Kitty Hawk pines as saplings in 1964 — four years after their arrival in Japan.
Midoro was the founder of All Nippon Airlines and had a long history of aviation, so one good guess is the seeds got distributed among bigwigs and a few landed in his hands. It seems likely they would have passed directly from Tokugawa, then Midoro would have cultivated them into small plants before handing them to his alma mater.
Here’s a bit of Midoro’s history, courtesy of Minami, my editor friend:
“He founded All Nippon Airways to help the many pilots who lost their jobs after the war. This has now become a global airline. He was truly a man of vision, and even now, nearly 50 years after his death, he is still held in high esteem by the citizens of Tsuyama.”
A live oak at the Wright Brothers Monument in Kitty Hawk
The live oak planted in Kitty Hawk remains, for the moment, anyone’s guess. The memorial is in Kill Devil Hills, though the flight took place in the more famously named town to the north, but nobody knew off-hand whether the Japanese tree still stands.
The National Parks Service didn’t have any information about it last week, but a spokesman promised to pass my questions on to a historian.
Regardless, I thank Minami for unearthing this chapter of NC history and pointing out that a tree still grows from it.
May it only grow taller.
This story was originally published December 2, 2024 at 5:30 AM.