General Grant Tree Planting Memorial

The General Grant Tree Planting Memorial stands in Tokyo's Ueno Park and commemorates the 1879 visit of former US President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia. Grant was on a two-year world tour and was the most senior American to visit Japan in the early Meiji era. At his ceremonial reception Grant planted a Japanese cedar and his wife a magnolia, both of which still stand. The plain stone records the event in Japanese script and marks an early symbol of diplomatic warming between the United States and the modernising Empire of Japan. Visitors walking through Ueno Park towards the Toshogu Shrine find the monument on a quiet path between the two now mature trees.