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The Mainichi
08-08-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
People in Nagasaki strive to make the city the last A-bombed place on Earth
NAGASAKI -- "Where are you originally from? You visit your mom from time to time, right?" Yasujiro Tanaka, an 83-year-old hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivor, asked this Mainichi Shimbun reporter in front of the Peace Statue in this southwest Japan city on July 9, under the scorching sun. Tanaka has been taking part in a sit-in rally on the ninth day of every month to speak out against nuclear arms, continuing to wish for a world without atomic weapons or war. On the morning of Aug. 9, 1945, a U.S. atomic bomb was detonated above Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m., engulfing the city in heat rays and a blast. "A town lit by the blazing sun and buzzing with cicadas suddenly turned dusky and quiet in an instant," Tanaka recalled. By the end of that year, approximately 74,000 people had died in Nagasaki. "Even if your parents may nag you by telling you the same things over and over, cherish your family who have kept you alive," Tanaka told me, with a gentle look on his face. Chiyoko Iwanaga, 89, who experienced the atomic bombing, offers prayers at a church every Sunday. On that fateful day, she was exposed to the flash and blast from the bomb about 11 kilometers southwest of the hypocenter, while she was in the former village of Fukahori, now part of the city of Nagasaki. Although she was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder in her 50s, Iwanaga has not been officially recognized as a hibakusha because she was outside a zone subject to public relief designated by the national government. While Iwanaga has sought government relief for many years, her pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Others in the same situation have passed away one after the other, saying they became ill because of the atomic bomb. "I'm carrying a heavy cross on my back," she said. "Humans are vulnerable and anyone can make mistakes. If every individual can accept that, I believe conflicts would disappear." Her wishes for peace only grow stronger. Eighty years have passed since the end of WWII, and fewer people remain who lived through it. Meanwhile, it is not just humans who can tell the stories of the damage from the atomic bombing. Kenichi Kubota, 58, a tree doctor, has continued an annual survey of trees that were exposed to the radiation in Nagasaki alongside members of the Nagasaki Prefecture branch of the Japan Tree Doctors Association, in an effort to preserve them for future generations. About 50 trees are examined in the survey, with each of their records kept in medical charts, just like for human patients. "As electric wires and houses have increased, these trees can no longer spread their branches freely like they did before the war. By shaping them in ways suited to the present time, we hope to allow those trees, our 'teachers' who experienced the war, to live out their lives," Kubota said. What all these efforts have in common is a desire to make Nagasaki "the last place on Earth to have suffered an atomic bombing." The areas around the hypocenter, once reduced to scorched ruins, are now filled with condominiums and schools, and bustling with people passing by. The people of Nagasaki continue their efforts in hopes that the cityscape will remain peaceful over the decades to come, even 100 or 150 years after the war. (Japanese original by Kaho Kitayama, Kyushu Photo and Video Department)
Khaleej Times
09-04-2025
- Khaleej Times
Now, AI tool aims to help conserve Japan's cherry trees
Japan's famed cherry trees are getting old, but a new AI tool that assesses photos of the delicate pink and white flowers could help preserve them for future generations. The "sakura" 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 authorities identify ailing specimens, brewing giant Kirin developed a tool called Sakura AI Camera. It tells users the condition and the age of the trees based on photos they take with their smartphones and upload them to a website. A five-point scale -- only available in Japanese for now -- 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 artificial intelligence tool has been trained using 5,000 images of cherry trees with the help of experts. The photos are then mapped on the Sakura AI Camera website 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," Risa Shioda from Kirin told AFP. "I think we can contribute by making it easier to plan for conservation," she said. About 20,000 photos have been collected since the launch last month, 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 one costs around one million yen ($6,800). Hiroyuki Wada of the Japan Tree Doctors Association, who inspects cherry trees in major spots in Tokyo, helped supervise the AI tool. He said he hopes that it will help experts study the environmental reasons behind the degradation of some of the trees he sees. In part, he blames climate change. "I'm very worried. Changes in the environment are usually gradual, but now it's visible," he told AFP. "There are impacts from the heat, and of course the lack of rainfall," he said. "The age of the trees naturally makes the situation more serious," he added. Japan's weather agency said in January that last year was the hottest since records began, like other nations. Kirin began donating some of its profits for the preservation of cherry trees last year, as a way to "pay back" to the communities. Alcohol, especially beer, is one of the drinks enjoyed at "hanami" flower-viewing parties beneath the trees, Shioda said. Cherry blossoms symbolise the fragility of life in Japanese culture as full blooms only last about a week before the petals start falling off trees. The season is also 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.
Asharq Al-Awsat
09-04-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
AI Tool Aims to Help Conserve Japan's Cherry Trees
Japan's famed cherry trees are getting old, but a new AI tool that assesses photos of the delicate pink and white flowers could help preserve them for future generations. The "sakura" 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 authorities identify ailing specimens, brewing giant Kirin developed a tool called Sakura AI Camera. It tells users the condition and the age of the trees based on photos they take with their smartphones and upload them to a website. A five-point scale -- only available in Japanese for now -- 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 artificial intelligence tool has been trained using 5,000 images of cherry trees with the help of experts. The photos are then mapped on the Sakura AI Camera website 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," Risa Shioda from Kirin told AFP. "I think we can contribute by making it easier to plan for conservation," she said. About 20,000 photos have been collected since the launch last month, 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 one costs around one million yen ($6,800). Hiroyuki Wada of the Japan Tree Doctors Association, who inspects cherry trees in major spots in Tokyo, helped supervise the AI tool. He said he hopes that it will help experts study the environmental reasons behind the degradation of some of the trees he sees. In part, he blames climate change. "I'm very worried. Changes in the environment are usually gradual, but now it's visible," he told AFP. "There are impacts from the heat, and of course the lack of rainfall," he said. "The age of the trees naturally makes the situation more serious," he added. Japan's weather agency said in January that last year was the hottest since records began, like other nations. Kirin began donating some of its profits for the preservation of cherry trees last year, as a way to "pay back" to the communities. Cherry blossoms symbolize the fragility of life in Japanese culture as full blooms only last about a week before the petals start falling off trees. The season is also 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.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
AI tool aims to help conserve Japan's cherry trees
Japan's famed cherry trees are getting old, but a new AI tool that assesses photos of the delicate pink and white flowers could help preserve them for future generations. The "sakura" 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 authorities identify ailing specimens, brewing giant Kirin developed a tool called Sakura AI Camera. It tells users the condition and the age of the trees based on photos they take with their smartphones and upload them to a website. A five-point scale -- only available in Japanese for now -- 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 artificial intelligence tool has been trained using 5,000 images of cherry trees with the help of experts. The photos are then mapped on the Sakura AI Camera website 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," Risa Shioda from Kirin told AFP. "I think we can contribute by making it easier to plan for conservation," she said. About 20,000 photos have been collected since the launch last month, 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 one costs around one million yen ($6,800). Hiroyuki Wada of the Japan Tree Doctors Association, who inspects cherry trees in major spots in Tokyo, helped supervise the AI tool. He said he hopes that it will help experts study the environmental reasons behind the degradation of some of the trees he sees. In part, he blames climate change. "I'm very worried. Changes in the environment are usually gradual, but now it's visible," he told AFP. "There are impacts from the heat, and of course the lack of rainfall," he said. "The age of the trees naturally makes the situation more serious," he added. Japan's weather agency said in January that last year was the hottest since records began, like other nations. Kirin began donating some of its profits for the preservation of cherry trees last year, as a way to "pay back" to the communities. Alcohol, especially beer, is one of the drinks enjoyed at "hanami" flower-viewing parties beneath the trees, Shioda said. Cherry blossoms symbolise the fragility of life in Japanese culture as full blooms only last about a week before the petals start falling off trees. The season is also 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. nf/stu/lb
