World | Christmas Tree That Survived A-Bomb Sees 70th Christmas Japanese family kept tree through calamities By Rob Quinn Posted Dec 22, 2007 1:10 PM CST Copied Warren Nobuaki Iwatake speaks, while sitting near to a Christmas tree, in his house in Tokyo, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. Iwatake's family has seen more than its share of calamity. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara) (Associated Press) A Japanese soldier's Christmas tree has stayed with his family through dark times, and even survived the atomic bomb that killed his brother in Nagasaki. This year marks the 70th Christmas that Warren Nobuaki Iwatake has put up the fragile, three-foot tree, which he calls "a shining light, because it was a symbol of unity in my family." Iwatake's family hoisted the tree every year through World War II, risking arrest from Japanese authorities who were suspicious of all things Western. After a US POW rescued Iwatake from a pit during the war, and Iwatake later saw the soldier beheaded, he sent pics of the tree to the man's Texas family every year. "Gradually, Christmas has become more meaningful again," said Iwatake. Read These Next Beyonce leaves national anthem unfinished. Musk says his new party is in business. A Texas man's disappearance is fodder for true-crime mania. Kerr County considered a flood warning system years ago. Report an error