Trees? We don't need trees, say Nakano park planners

The Japanese love to chop down trees. Then apply nice dusty dirt to the fields remaining. Unless of course they decide to cement it over, as this is the land of cement.

I live near here, and this is only one of several such instances of trees and grass being destroyed in public areas and replaced by concrete or construction in the last few years. There used to be soccer pitches and gateball spaces shaded by cherry trees northwest of Nakano station. Now it's a bicycle parking lot.

The old police academy campus used to be an expanse of meadows, now it's mostly concrete and commercial facilities, and a small patch of decorative grass is usually fenced off and patrolled by security guards to keep residents away.

The rare tall trees on a sidewalk that used to provide me with shade in summer when commuting were ALL chopped down a couple of years ago when workers were upgrading a water pipe. Too many examples to cite.

I remember Nakano's old police academy, which used to be an army headquarters until the end of the war. I've also been a guest at the new police academy in Fuchu City. Being in the suburbs one would think it would have retained some of its greenery, but such is not the case. Except for along the fence that forms its periphery, one can count the number of trees on the fingers of one hand.

I do like how this group is fighting back and refuting the govt.'s baseless claims and lack of due diligence with planning. Hopefully they can get their proper day in court to argue their side.

More trees make a city more pretty. The most beautiful cities in the world are well forested.

It's the same in Sendai, the so-called "city of trees". The city keeps cutting down trees, mostly to widen roads so that more cars can sit in traffic jams. The Japanese idea of a park seems to be a vast expanse of concrete, or dirt, and nothing else. Aesthetically awful and unbearable in summer.

Of course it is disgusting the local government intends to rid the park of its trees. However, did anybody else notice the lies and deceit in the government plans? They are just scumbag scoundrels like the federal government and businessmen.

At our old place we used to have to take a bus to get to a park with trees. We moved a bit outside the city and now it's so much nicer in the summer. A lot more bugs but still...

Construction companies need to construct and will not stop until they do so. Local government is just an irritation easily resolvable by a few brown envelopes.

It is the same all over the world and I doubt it is any different here.

Japan has been waging a war on trees for a while now. The main culprit is hay fever. With reports about all of the pollen coming from trees and causing so much suffering(not) people blame all trees for this. And while it is true, pollen does come from cedar trees, there is no need to cut down every tree just in case they produce pollen.

Yep the decision making pros are out in force for this one. Ridiculous, but not surprising.

Can this be true -

".. Even more infuriating, of the approximately 25,000 trees and shrubs in the park, some two-thirds, or 17,814, are destined to fall victim to the woodsman's axe...."

If so, then it's beyond criminal. How can a public authority wield so much power?

I'm sure the IOC would love to hear it's name "Olympics" being used to justify such vandalism, esp considering "being green" is now at the forefront of olympic developments.

Japan has been waging a war on trees for a while now. The main culprit is hay fever. With reports about all of the pollen coming from trees and causing so much suffering(not) people blame all trees for this. And while it is true, pollen does come from cedar trees, there is no need to cut down every tree just in case they produce pollen.

Nothing can be done about the hayfever issue. Most of this hayfever pollen comes from cedar tree forests planted outside of Tokyo city after the war to help rebuilding. I dont think the reason for cutting down trees in Japan is down to cedar hayfever. It is quite simply due to construction and property developers such as Mayor Tanaka. Someone should investigate this mayors bank account.

It seems that trees, grass, in fact, more or less anything green equals "inaka" for city planners.

"Chop it down, cover it with lovely asphalt or concrete."

I live very close to Heiwa no Mori Koen, and I know and have cooperated with Mr. Iwamura in collecting signatures to stop this awful and ridiculous affair. As far as I know it is all about brown envelopes going from construction companies to ..... well you know.

City planners are putting in the effort in urban forestry despite the image of a concrete jungle in Tokyo.

There is a road construction project on the northwest side of Nakameguro station on Yamate-Dori where there are plans for cherry trees and other trees to be planted along a 500m strip. The cherry trees are more of an upright variety Yokohzakura unlike the Someyoshino kind with its artistic but obstructive limbs as a street tree. It’s a busy road but they’re widening the sidewalks and it will run parallel to the cherries along the Megurogawa, a popular spot for Ohanami. There are numerous other examples.

If you take the Omotesando Exit from JR Harajuku station and walk down Omotesando Avenue, you’ll see they’ve just planted new trees in the smoker infested corner park across from the entrance to the Meiji Shrine. One of the smallest but busiest stations during the weekend on the Yamanote line, Harajuku station is being renovated and there’ll be more trees in the landscape once construction is completed.

If you ever walk from Tsutaya Bookstore in Daikanyama on the Old Yamato-Dori (different from Yamate-Dori previously mentioned) towards Shibuya past the Malaysian Embassy, you’ll come to a large intersection at the 246 expressway and the Sumitomo Fudosan Shibuya Garden Tower building on the corner. There they’ve planted California redwood trees, Sequoia sempervirens, trees that are 100 meters tall in their native habitat. These can also be seen in business complexes in Osaki and Shinagawa.

Those of you who take the Chuo line heading into one of the largest dumping stations - Shinjuku - will see huge Dawn redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, if you look to your right - south - at Asagaya station. There is a small grove of the redwoods almost ten stories tall, rare in Tokyo because trees planted near buildings have height restrictions. You need to be at the front or rear of the train as the station itself will block the view.

Street tree species in Tokyo and their varieties are limited due to their designated requirements. They must be equipped with a root system able to withstand typhoons and a leaf surface texture that can take road pollution. The Ginkgo tree is one of the few larger trees that passes this test.

The possible downside is the lack of colors other than yellow, or golden yellow in colder parts, in the fall of large shade trees as the overplanted and ubiquitous Gingko -Icho - is the official tree of Tokyo.

The Japanese maple - momiji -while red in the fall is a small tree and does not colour as well in the warmer coastal climate of the capital. Neither will the Zelkova - Keyaki - turning brown or a faint yellow at best despite its good size.

Lots of trees are sacrificed in our little neighborhood areas but larger or rare specimens are designated Heritage Trees and such programs make illegal their removal.

Many trees do fall victim to the workers’ chainsaw. Construction companies indeed need to build, and the local government obstacle is resolvable by fat envelopes, but capital city planning is no doubt quite conscious of the value of trees as seen by the trees planted around town.