Safety fears bloom in Japan as ageing cherry trees collapse in Tokyo parks

People picnic outside a cordoned-off area set up to inspect the health of cherry blossom trees at Kinuta Park in Tokyo on Friday.

Photo: AP Many of Tokyo’s popular and iconic Somei Yoshino cherry blossom trees were planted during Japan’s post-war advancement in the 1960s, and are now getting old and frail.

Some have fallen and many others require support, triggering safety concern as the Japanese celebrate the season of their favourite flower.

Two cherry blossom trees collapsed on Thursday, one at Kinuta Park in downtown Tokyo and the other at the Chidorigafuchi greenway.

The one in Kinuta Park damaged a fence while the other tree almost fell into the Imperial Palace moat, though nobody was injured.

The tree in Kinuta Park was 18 metres (60 feet) tall and 2.5 metres in diameter.

It was among the oldest, believed to be more than 60 years old, officials said.

In March, another old cherry tree collapsed at the park, injuring a passer-by.

A broken branch is caught up in a damaged cherry tree after a nearby tree fell on it at Kinuta Park in Tokyo on Friday.

Photo: AP Last year, 85 trees fell in Tokyo parks, injuring three people, and many were cherry trees, according to Masakazu Noguchi, a Tokyo metropolitan official in charge of public parks.

People gather under the trees during the season of hanami, or cherry blossom viewing, and the collapse of trees has alarmed officials in Tokyo, the birthplace of the cherry blossom variety.

Tokyo assembly member Yutaka Kazama expressed concern on social media last month that “cherry blossom trees with their roots partially exposed or obviously rotten seem dangerous”, calling for firm safety measures but without quickly resorting to tree felling.

Ageing and erosion by internal fungus growth are among the main causes of the deterioration of the cherry blossom trees.

A tree doctor, Hiroyuki Wada, said heavy tilting, flowering on lower trunks and mushrooms growing at the bottom were signs to look for to avoid risk-prone trees.

Risks increase when tree trunks retain water after rain. “Many trees in our daily lives were planted soon after the war and are now 70 to 80 years old and getting weaker,” he said, adding that they were affected by extreme heat in the summer and an extensive dry season. “I hope people think about climate change through what’s happening to the cherry blossom trees, which is very symbolic.” Following the March incidents, officials conducted tree health checks at Tokyo’s main parks ahead of t

原文链接: 南华早报