Japan city seeks funds for 'dying' pine

The tree was the sole survivor Tokyo - Agencies   A local government in northern Japan is seeking funds to preserve a so-called "miracle pine" tree that survived last year's tsunami, officials said Thursday. The city of Rikuzentakata will open a Facebook page on July 5 to ask for donations for the tree -- the sole survivor among some 70,000 pines which were swept away after a tsunami engulfed the region on March 11, 2011. According to the city, it will cost some 90 million yen ($1.1 million) to provide antiseptic treatment to the tree, which is now dying down due to severe damage from the disaster. Rikuzentakata, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Tokyo, is still struggling to recover from the tsunami, which killed more than 1,500 citizens in the city alone.