Environment | Activism | Urban Planning
Lest We Ignore Our Better Angels
Composer, innovator, performer, and activist fought for Tokyo’s trees
I wrote a tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto late last year after learning about his long and precarious fight with cancer. This piece is not another tribute to one of my handful of music idols. I thought I would be of better use by carrying Ryuichi Sakamoto’s activist torch in my modest way.
Local papers reported he had stage 4 throat and rectal cancers, and his prognosis did not look favourable. Then, the acclaimed music artist/actor died at age 71 on 28 March 2023. But not before he left one last message to the governor of Tokyo.
Do not kill the trees.
And shortly before his passing away, he formally requested Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to reconsider the planned redevelopment of a historic sports and entertainment venue and the demise of trees there. Residents affectionately regard it as the home of both Jingu (baseball) Stadium and Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.
I don’t live in Tokyo, so my intentions are apolitical insofar as I have no immediate stake in this mega city’s urban development. The current Tokyo government has recently approved a 13-year plan to demolish these popular near-heritage venues and sacrifice acres of trees to make room for more towering concrete.
I am neither an activist myself — not that I am against activism — nor a tree hugger. I do, however, sometimes look like a tree climber when taking long-angle shots directly underneath their canopies or macro photos of moss on tree bark.
The more I go out on my morning and weekend hikes up my nearby playground called Daimonji-yama — “Big Letter Mountain” — for physical exercise and photography, the greater my appreciation for these ancient guardians of the forest.
I believe Sakamoto — the founder and chief operator of the forest conservation organization More Trees — felt the same way about trees and the landscape of the redevelopment zone in contention. He petitioned in March 2023 to suspend the project.
“We should not sacrifice the precious trees of Jingu that our ancestors spent 100 years protecting and nurturing just for quick economic gain.”
Though few would disagree that tree-lined avenues give a city more charm, it is not just about aesthetics. More trees are found to significantly and provide quantifiable relief from summertime heat waves, which intensified urbanization tends only to exacerbate.
In an article by Marlowe Hood at AFP-JiJi, a study in the Lancet focusing on Europe found a correlation between the significant risk of deaths in heat-sensitive cities and the lack of trees in those urban areas. Of the 6,700 premature deaths attributed to higher temperatures in 93 European cities during 2015, one-third could have been prevented. [1]
The study also revealed that increasing tree growth to one-third of a city’s area would decrease the average summer heat to nearly half a centigrade.
That’s cool.
Unfortunately, we all know that money talks. Self-serving corporate businesses talk loudest. Reasoned protests fall deaf ears to myopic, spineless governments.
Yet, even the most feeble voices among us, including Ryuichi Sakamoto, try to protest yet louder.
“As a citizen, I could not remain silent.” His words resonate beyond his death.
Thanks for reading! Please say hello in the comments.
I write for connections, not censorship.
(^-^)v
A shout-out to Denise for her story related to a disturbing incident involving an arboreal activist killed while protesting on behalf of trees and nature conservation.
