I had missed the peak bloom, but some blossoms still clung to the branches. Petals drifted through the air like snow—a scene known in Japanese as sakura fubuki, or “cherry blossom blizzard.” It was a quiet reminder that the season had come to an end in Tokyo. A little sad, yet undeniably beautiful.
That said, I wasn’t there just to take in the afterglow. This year’s sakura season came with a piece of news that caught my attention.
A cherry tree at this famous spot had collapsed.
It reportedly fell in the early morning of April 2, right around peak bloom. Strong winds and rain the night before are believed to have been the direct cause. Fortunately, because it happened early in the day, no one was injured.
A snapped trunk, roots and soil lifted at the base, and even a guardrail bent upward from underneath showed just how powerful the collapse had been.
The trees at Chidorigafuchi stretch out over the moat, creating that signature view—but that very beauty also puts strain on them. Looking around, I noticed many trees supported by braces or heavily pruned, suggesting their age.
The Hidden Reality Behind Sakura Trees
This year, similar incidents were reported across Japan. Fully blooming cherry trees collapsing—almost as if it had been coordinated.
Tokyo itself saw several such incidents this spring. At Kinuta Park in Setagaya, two cherry trees fell in March and April, prompting an emergency inspection of trees throughout the park. A cherry tree also fell near Yagawa Station in Kunitachi.
One reason often cited is the aging of Somei Yoshino, the most common cherry variety. Planted extensively across Japan after World War II, many of these trees are now reaching the later stages of their lifespan.
Because Somei Yoshino are clones propagated from a single original tree, their growth—and aging—tends to follow a similar timeline. Some have even described them, a bit dramatically, as “time bombs” that might fail all at once. Of course, not every tree is dangerous, but the underlying structure is hard to ignore.
As ornamental trees, Somei Yoshino are also relatively vulnerable to disease and pests. Once aging leads to internal decay or hollowing, a tree may appear healthy on the outside while losing structural strength. When that happens, restoring it to its former condition is extremely difficult.
Across Japan, there are increasing reports of old cherry-lined streets being cut down due to irreversible decay, or replaced with more disease-resistant varieties.
Sakura Trees Disappearing from Everyday Streets
This is not something that happens only at famous cherry blossom spots.
Even along ordinary streets lined with cherry trees that bloom beautifully every year, I feel that I have been seeing more trees that have been heavily pruned—or even cut down altogether.
The photo below shows a cherry tree I came across on a roadside recently.
The notice explained:
“The cherry tree cut down along this road was removed because a tree inspection determined that it posed a risk of falling. The remaining roots will be removed once they have decayed.”
It was a surprisingly ordinary scene. There was no dramatic storm or spectacular collapse—just a tree that had quietly disappeared from a familiar street.
The notice had been posted in March, just before the cherry blossom season began. In other words, this tree was removed before it had a chance to put on another spring display. Its condition had been judged too risky for the tree to safely withstand the coming season.
It was clearly a necessary decision for safety. Still, there must have been something difficult about cutting down a cherry tree just before it was due to bloom. A tree that had probably welcomed spring for many years would never bloom again.
When cherry blossoms are in full bloom, it is easy to think of these trees simply as part of the scenery. We admire them for a few weeks every spring, often without thinking much about what happens to the trees for the rest of the year.
But behind that brief display of beauty are living trees that grow old, become diseased, and sometimes become dangerous.
Sakura—Currently Under Treatment
Perhaps this is one of the less visible sides of Tokyo’s cherry blossom season.
We tend to notice the trees when they are covered in flowers. We notice them again when petals begin to fall. But the work of inspecting, pruning, treating, and sometimes removing them goes on quietly in between.
The cherry trees that line Japan’s streets may look timeless. They are not.
A Small Postscript to Sakura Season
For many years, cherry blossoms have drawn people in with their quiet grandeur. Yet this year, at one of Tokyo’s most famous spots—and on an ordinary street I happened to walk along—it felt as though small signs of strain, subtle but real, had begun to show beneath the beauty.
It was a small footnote to this year’s sakura season.
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