AI tool aims to help conserve Japan’s cherry trees
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Many of the cherry trees are reaching 70 to 80 years old, well beyond their prime blooming age.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO - Japan’s famed cherry trees are getting old, but a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that assesses photos of the delicate pink-and-white flowers could help preserve them for future generations.
The “sakura” (cherry blossom) season is feverishly anticipated by locals and visitors alike, with the profusion of the stunning blossoms marking the start of spring.
But many of the trees are reaching 70 to 80 years old, well beyond their prime blooming age.
This means increasing costs to tend to the trees and maintain popular flowering spots.
To help the authorities identify ailing specimens, brewing giant Kirin has developed a tool called Sakura AI Camera. It tells users the condition and age of trees based on photos taken with smartphones and uploaded onto a website.
The trees are ranked on a five-point scale – available only in Japanese for now – that ranges from “very healthy” to “worrying”. A tree with healthy flowers blooming densely all the way to the tips of the branches gets top marks.
The AI tool has been trained with the help of experts using 5,000 images of cherry trees.
The photos are then mapped onto the Sakura AI Camera website, along with details such as tree condition and location.
“We heard that the preservation of sakura requires manpower and money, and that it’s difficult to gather information,” Ms Risa Shioda from Kirin said. “I think we can contribute by making it easier to plan for conservation.”
About 20,000 photos have been collected since the launch of the AI tool in March, with the data available online for free for local authorities.
Worth a million
According to Tokyo’s Meguro ward, famous for its riverbanks lined with cherry trees, replanting a new tree costs around one million yen (S$9,260).
Dr Hiroyuki Wada from the Japan Tree Doctors Association, who inspects cherry trees in major spots in Tokyo, helped supervise the AI tool. He said he hopes it will help experts study the environmental reasons behind the degradation of some of the trees he has seen. In part, he blames climate change.
“I’m very worried. Changes in the environment are usually gradual, but now they’re visible,” he said. “There are impacts from the heat, and of course the lack of rainfall. The age of the trees naturally makes the situation more serious.”
Japan’s weather agency said in January that 2024 was the hottest since records began, like in other nations.
Kirin in 2024 began donating some of its profits to the preservation of cherry trees, as a way to “pay back” communities. Alcohol, especially beer, is one of the drinks enjoyed at “hanami” flower-viewing parties beneath the trees, Kirin’s Ms Shioda said.
Cherry blossoms symbolise the fragility of life in Japanese culture, as full blooms last only about a week before the petals start falling off trees.
The season is considered one of change as it marks the start of the new business year, with many university graduates starting their first full-time jobs and older colleagues shifting to new positions. AFP
