As the last survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb diligently work to ensure that their stories continue to be told for generations to come, another survivor is telling its own story to the rest of the world. Currently held at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., this 391-year-old bonsai tree has not just been in existence for nearly 400 years, but is also one of the survivors of the atomic bomb.

The Japanese white pine is said to have been planted in 1625 and cared for by the Yamaki family, who lived only two miles away from where the bomb was dropped in 1945. Both the family and the bonsai were inside when the bomb, which ultimately killed approximately 140,000 people, detonated, and miraculously managed to stay alive.

30 years later in 1976, the bonsai left Japanese soil and was offered by bonsai master Masaru Yamaki to the United States as a gift of friendship and connection between the two cultures.

Though it only stands a few feet tall, its thick trunk and stubby needles tell a vast tale of history like no other, and visitors to the U.S. National Arboretum can come face-to-face with this extraordinary remnant from one of Japan's most significant events of the past four centuries.