{
  "id": 12409476,
  "title": "Tokyo residents fight for more trees",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/tokyo-residents-fight-for-more-trees",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-06T15:20:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2026/10/1549270/tokyo-residents-fight-more-trees"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Tokyo, residents are rallying for increased tree cover amid rising temperatures and heat-related fatalities. Kaoru Morimoto, a 66-year-old resident, launched a campaign last year urging officials to set a canopy cover target, a rare grassroots effort focused on this issue. Together with fellow resident Susumu Nirasawa, they organize expert talks, share temperature data online, and attend local council meetings to advocate for their cause.\n\nThe city of Tokyo experienced its hottest summer on record last year, with over 73,000 people needing emergency care due to heat-related illnesses. A University of Tokyo study in 2024 revealed that the city lost canopy cover equivalent to three-and-a-half times the size of New York's Central Park in under a decade, with central Tokyo's tree cover falling to 7.3% in 2022 from 9.2% in 2013.\n\nMorimoto and Nirasawa conduct their own temperature measurements, finding a significant difference in shade under well-maintained trees versus heavily pruned ones. They believe hard data will unite their neighbors and drive change. Urban forestry expert Kinya Shiraishi from the University of Tokyo emphasizes that canopy cover is crucial for improving urban quality of life, reducing flooding risks, and fostering a sense of calm.\n\nShiraishi attributes the decline in tree cover primarily to the loss of private gardens due to aging landowners selling their properties and large-scale housing subdivisions. He also notes that narrow roads in Tokyo offer little space for greenery, and authorities are cautious about trees toppling in extreme weather.\n\nTokyo's metropolitan government is working to expand tree canopies through careful pruning, focusing on wider pavements where trees can grow. However, the city's benchmark for greenery, which includes farmland and grassland in outer reaches, may not adequately address the urgent need for increased canopy cover.\n\nProfessor Eijiro Fujii, a horticulture specialist at Chiba University, warns that overpruning and frequent changes in public officials overseeing street greenery have contributed to the decline in canopy cover. In the Nakano neighborhood, the ward mayor has recently emphasized the importance of tree shade, but no specific target for canopy cover has been set.\n\nAs heatstroke deaths continue to rise in Japan, Morimoto and Nirasawa urge prompt action to increase canopy cover and shift policies before it's too late.",
  "summary": "ONE sweltering day in Tokyo, Kaoru Morimoto told friends that she wasn’t sure she could endure another summer in her neighbourhood, where tree cover and the crucial shade it provides is dwindling.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}