Ginkgo trees at Jingu Gaien in November 2022. Trees are increasingly becoming a flashpoint in Tokyo.
Photographer: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images
Environment
Tokyo’s Scorching Summers Focus Public Anger Against Tree Cutting
A group of elderly residents who guard a row of ginkgo trees from being cut down are part of a wave of such activism in the Japanese capital.
Every night, 70-year-old Etsuko Goto takes her place on a small foldable chair in a central Tokyo road to protect a row of around 30 trees from being felled.
“When I heard they were going to be cut down, I knew I had to protect them,” Goto said, as she was setting up for another all-nighter. “They’re such beautiful trees, and it really soothes your soul to see this scenery.”