{"id":25350,"date":"2025-04-10T17:15:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T15:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/blog\/japon-utiliza-ia-para-preservar-sus-cerezos-en-flor\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T15:18:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:18:24","slug":"japon-utiliza-ia-para-preservar-sus-cerezos-en-flor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/blog\/japon-utiliza-ia-para-preservar-sus-cerezos-en-flor\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan uses AI to preserve its cherry blossoms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every spring, Japan is painted pink. Cherry blossoms, or sakura, are much more than trees: <\/span>they are a symbol of life, transience and renewal <\/b>that has inspired poems, millennial festivals (hanami) and even business strategies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But today, these cultural icons face a paradox: the more tourists come to admire them, the closer they are to disappearing. More than 80 years old and threatened by climate change, Japanese cherry trees are in a race against time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Salvation? A camera with artificial intelligence. The company Kirin, known for its beer, developed Sakura AI Camera: an app that, with just a photo, <\/span>diagnoses the health of these trees and guides their preservation.<\/b><\/p>\n

Behind it there is a fascinating story: tree doctors, open data and even beer. How does this technology work? Here we tell you and you will discover why this project is a model to protect our natural heritage in the digital age.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why are cherry trees in danger?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Japanese cherry trees, eternal symbols of beauty and transience,<\/span> today face threats that could erase them from the landscape.<\/b> Their decline is due to a combination of environmental, biological and human factors that reinforce each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

The weight of the years<\/span><\/h3>\n

Most ornamental cherry trees were planted in the post-war period (1950s-1960s), which means that today they exceed 70 or 80 years, the natural limit of their useful life. Unlike wild cherry trees (which can live for centuries), these cultivated varieties have limited longevity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The changing climate<\/span><\/h3>\n

Japan recorded its warmest year in 2024 since records exist. <\/b>Prolonged heat waves, unusual droughts and erratic rainfall patterns weaken trees:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Premature flowering depletes its energy reserves<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The lack of water hardens the soil, making it difficult to absorb nutrients<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Extreme temperatures favor pests and diseases<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The cost of preserving them<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Replacing a mature cherry tree costs \u22486,800 USD (including planting, maintenance, and years of care until it blooms). For municipalities with hundreds of trees, this is unsustainable. Additionally, the shortage of certified “tree doctors” complicates early diagnosis of problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Tourist pressure<\/span><\/h3>\n

    The hanami attracts millions of visitors, but trampling of roots, pollution and accidental damage accelerate deterioration. In parks like Ueno (Tokyo), <\/span>the trees show wounds from constant human contact.<\/b><\/p>\n

    Technology to the rescue: Sakura AI Camera<\/span><\/h2>\n

    The Sakura AI Camera, developed by beverage company Kirin, represents an innovative approach that combines advanced technology with citizen participation to save these national symbols.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Using an algorithm trained with more than 5,000 images of trees<\/b> in various states of health – validated by arboreal experts – it can determine in seconds the condition of a cherry tree through a simple photograph taken with a smartphone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The system classifies trees into five health levels, from “optimal” to “emergency”, providing authorities and caretakers with valuable information to prioritize interventions.<\/span><\/p>\n

    What is truly innovative is its collaborative model: <\/b>each image uploaded by users (there are already more than 20,000) is geolocated and stored on an open platform, creating a national map of sakura health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    AI does not replace human specialists, but it gives them unprecedented tools. As Dr. Wada points out, “we used to need months to collect this data; now we have it in real time.”<\/span><\/p>\n

    The human heart behind technology<\/span><\/h2>\n

    The Sakura AI Camera would not be effective without the synergy between artificial intelligence and human knowledge. The “cherry doctors”, experts with decades of experience, are the gatekeepers who validate and refine the system.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

    They trained the AI with their clinical eye to detect everything from water stress to fungal infections, transforming empirical observations into precise algorithms.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But true power comes from citizen participation. Every tourist who photographs a tree, every resident who reports changes in their local park, becomes a custodian of this heritage.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

    These “community watchers” monitor thousands of trees simultaneously – something impossible for the few specialists that exist. As Dr. Wada points out: “AI gives us the data, but it is people’s connection to the sakura that will really save them.”<\/span><\/p>\n

    The future of AI-assisted preservation<\/span><\/h2>\n

    The Sakura AI Camera model has shown that artificial intelligence can be a bridge between tradition and environmental conservation, but its true potential remains to be explored.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Experts see opportunities to apply this technology to other threatened ecosystems, from Canadian maples to ancient Mediterranean olive trees, adapting algorithms to the specific needs of each species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    However, the path is not without challenges. Keeping AI systems up to date in the face of rapid climate change <\/span>will require constant investment and international collaboration.<\/b><\/p>\n

    La sostenibilidad del proyecto depender\u00e1 de su capacidad para institucionalizarse, combinando fondos p\u00fablicos con el apoyo del sector privado, sin perder su esencia colaborativa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Lo m\u00e1s valioso de esta iniciativa quiz\u00e1s no sea la tecnolog\u00eda en s\u00ed, sino el modelo de participaci\u00f3n comunitaria que ha creado.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Every spring, Japan is painted pink. Cherry blossoms, or sakura, are much more than trees: they are a symbol of life, transience and renewal that has inspired poems, millennial festivals (hanami) and even business strategies.\u00a0 But today, these cultural icons face a paradox: the more tourists come to admire them, the closer they are to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_thinkrank_schema_form_data":"","_thinkrank_selected_schema_type":"","_thinkrank_additional_schemas":"","_thinkrank_canonical_url":"","_thinkrank_og_title":"","_thinkrank_og_description":"","_thinkrank_og_image":"","_thinkrank_twitter_title":"","_thinkrank_twitter_description":"","_thinkrank_twitter_image":"","_thinkrank_imported_from":"","_thinkrank_focus_keywords":[],"_thinkrank_focus_keyword":"","_thinkrank_robots_meta_enabled":0,"_thinkrank_robots_meta":"","_thinkrank_advanced_robots_meta":"","_thinkrank_exclude_from_search":0,"_thinkrank_exclude_from_archives":0,"_thinkrank_primary_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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spring, Japan is painted pink. Cherry blossoms, or sakura, are much more than trees: they are a symbol of life, transience and renewal that has inspired poems, millennial festivals (hanami) and even business strategies.\u00a0 But today, these cultural icons face a paradox: the more tourists come to admire them, the closer they are to…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/comunicagenia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}