The Christmas tree in front of Hankyu Shukugawa Station has been lit up again this year.
On Saturday, November 30, a lighting ceremony was held by the Shukugawa Neighborhood Association.
Here’s what the lighting ceremony looked like↓
It’s a little hard to see, but in the middle of the crowd are children from the Shukugawa Neighborhood Association singing Christmas carols.
Members of the media come every year too, which shows just how much attention this event gets.
It looks like Santa Claus was there as well.
By the way, this is what the tree looks like from the ceremony area↓
Now, this Christmas tree that appears every year in front of Shukugawa Station actually has a story behind it.
There was a sign next to the tree.
Here it is.
The O’Hara couple came to Japan soon after the war and lived in Shukugawa.
There are photos from that time too.
(Source: Nishinomiya City Promotion Portal Site “Manabi, Sumu Machi. Nishinomiya”)
The O’Hara couple decorated a Christmas tree on Hagoromo Bridge in front of the station with hopes for postwar recovery. Even after they returned to the United States, local residents carried on the tradition and continued decorating a tree on Hagoromo Bridge every year.
The relationship between the O’Hara couple and the people of Shukugawa continued after that.
(Source: Nishinomiya City Promotion Portal Site “Manabi, Sumu Machi. Nishinomiya”)
Back then, it was decorated along the railing of the bridge like this.
In 1983, the area in front of the station was redeveloped and a rotary was built, and since then the tree has been displayed every year in its current location.
For more details, please see the official Nishinomiya City website below↓
Nishinomiya City Promotion Portal Site “Manabi, Sumu Machi. Nishinomiya”
Even in the year of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, this tree was displayed just as it always had been.
Filled with wishes for recovery, this tree has continued to shine a light on the local community, both then and now.
