TTokyo

Sakura tree got cut down in Nippori

  • October 9, 2025

Recently, a Sakura tree near Nippori Station was cut down, and the staff left a message on its roots:

“An expert inspection of the tree revealed that it was rotting internally. As there is a risk of branches breaking or the tree falling over due to strong winds, it will be cut down in the near future. 2025.6”

The tree that was cut down is the one behind, near the zebra crossing on the right in the second picture.

According to research, because Somei Yoshino sakura trees are cultivated from grafted cuttings (similar to "cloning"), their lifespan is not as good as naturally grown sakura trees (such as mountain sakura trees), with a lifespan of approximately 50-80 years. Their advantage is their rapid growth and similar flowering periods. However, their wood is less robust, and urbanization-induced soil and environmental pressures further increase their fragility.

As the saying goes in Japanese, "一期一会", the life that we took for granted until yesterday cannot be guaranteed to exist tomorrow. Let’s live in the moment and be grateful 🙏

by Tuffie_the_rat

13 comments

  3. Similar thing happened along the river near my home in Tokyo. They replaced most of the trees (however several have not been replaced). They replanted young trees and these flowered.

  4. Cherry blossoms are notoriously prone to disease and they are often cut down when any issues are detected. A whole whack of them were [cut down and replaced](https://www.city.shinagawa.tokyo.jp/PC/shinagawaphotonews/shinagawaphotonews-2018/hpg000033114.html) near the mouth of the Meguro river a few years back.

    > because Somei Yoshino sakura trees are cultivated from grafted cuttings, their lifespan is not as good

    I have never thought of it being variety specific before, but now that I think about it, the large ones in my local parks are all non-yoshino varieties.

  7. It had to look at Nippori station every day for 50 years, in the end it was a blessed release.

  8. At least it wasn’t for a fucked up reason like “blocks a pachinko billboard” or something

  9. Many of the cherry trees planted post-war are nearing the end of their lifespans nowadays

  11. I noticed this last week! Thats so funny to see this posting. I was planning on taking apic abd doing an art piece on it.

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