Celebration with a tree: Yokohama’s Commemorative Tree Planting Programme 横浜市人生記念植樹

 

This year’s monsoon season in Yokohama (called “tsuyu” in Japanese) could be very short. We’re already having baking sun for 30+°C every day. Harsh. Such days of sunshine powered by global warming ... Shadows made by tall enough trees nearby are really soothing. I guess when we lived daily lives sans trees, it would make us think to plant some tree even if it is a potted one. At least in Yokohama, the City Hall has a scheme to help the idea. The service is called “Commemorative Tree Planting Programme 人生記念植樹.”

The service goes like this. Twice a year, the city has a couple of days to distribute several kinds of seedlings from nurseries in Yokohama. The most basic qualification for receiving the municipal goodie is a person who claims the tree is a legal resident in Yokohama. In Japan, this means you or your family register yourself as a resident of the municipality (in this case, the City of Yokohama), and paying city tax as a household. i.e. NO nationality asked. We have to plant that tree in Yokohama. The way you plant it is not asked. You live in a condo in Yokohama without garden, but you have your lanai capable of keeping a pot. Perfect! It’s OK you plant your tree in a pot … Er, the size of a pot is at least 30cm in diameter, I think (from the size of a tree, please see below photos). Then, when one of your family members celebrates below occasions, you can ask the City a tree.

• Birth
• Starting preschool
• Matriculation to any school (; this one I find VERY Japanese ... not graduation, you see?)
• Coming of Age
• Starting new job
• Wedding (for newlywed up to diamond+ marriage; sorry, one seedling per couple)
• Age-related celebrations (; it’s to congratulate senior citizens for their longevity when a person reaches the age of 60, 70, 77, 80, 88, 90, 99, and 100.)
• Moving into the City of Yokohama 
• Building your home in Yokohama

We have to make a reservation for this. It could be done by mail (; application form is available in the Ward Office of your address, or downloadable from their HP), or directly from HP. Currently, the booking is open for Fall 2025 distribution till August 29. You register yourself for a seedling, then you pick up the tree in one of the distribution sites you registered. The City does not mail the seedlings, so you have to go on site during one of the days of distribution. That’s the source of complaint for some busy Yokohama people ... But I think it’s a reasonable condition. How much could it cost to post a living seedling? All the seedlings are funded by taxpayers! Blah, Blah, Blah.

The tree species distributed can vary each year. The scheme is made possible by helps from nurserymen of JA Yokohama. They have a large say which seedling can be distributed at a particular schedule. As they are professionals, they provide a tree that can be planted relatively easily in Spring/Autumn of Yokohama. Also, they know market trends so that these days olives and blueberries are provided for distribution. There is a cherry tree whose name is Yokohama-hizakura. This is the only cherry in Japan that has a name with Yokohama. The tree was developed by nurserymen in Yokohama in 1972, and obtained in 1985 the legal variety registration based on Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act. It won’t be big as Jamazakura or Somei-Yoshino. The shape of flowers is the same as Somei-Yoshino, but whose color is pinker. It‘s lovely cherry for a private garden of urban environment. Here is the list of seedlings for FY2025.

• Blueberry
• Olive
• Fragrant orange colored olive
• Hydrangea macrophylla
• Yokohama-hizakura cherry
• Chimonanthus praecox
• Japanese maple
• Enkianthus perulatus
• Lady Bank’s rose
• Reeve's spiraea
• Sacred bamboo

The seedlings provided for June 2025 distribution.
Could you figure out the size?
The nurserymen recommended a large enough pot
 if you plant it in them.

The service pot for giving out.
Caution:
the number of the pot is limited
and so
 it was distributed first-come-first-served base.

The origin of this project goes back to 1966. Originally it was a part of baby shower in which the municipality jumped in to celebrate a new citizen of Yokohama, hoping the baby and family would begin to treasure the greenery of neighborhood. At that time, the family of a baby received a partial subsidy to plant a tree in one of these municipal parks. The reaction from Yokohama people was so-so. Money matters aside, to see their tree people had to visit a park that was not necessarily near their home. In 1977, the city introduced the current style of distribution: the city subsidizes 100% for a seedling, and lets the people plant wherever they choose, provided it is legal. Now, on average roughly 6000 seedlings are handed over each year.

One of the distribution centre for June 2025,
i.e. the atrium of City Hall.
On that day
there was also a farmers’ market next to the distribution table.

Sadly, the scheme itself is not much known. More than 60% of citizens of Yokohama live in condo-type housing. i.e. A house with a garden is not a majority. People do not think they are eligible to receive a seedling from the City + don’t know how to nurture a tree (; my post on November 24, 2024). For technical concerns, when we receive a seedling the members of JA Yokohama give us advice how to plant and how to nurture. But the most fundamental issue for the City is how to communicate with the people for this program. By simple math, since 1966 approximately 36 million seedlings have already been distributed in Yokohama to make our community comfortable with trees. On the other hand, Yokohama is a city for 3 million people. 36 million for 60 years is … there is a room for improvement, I guess. Do you have any plans to collaborate for this programme to make our backyard greener? Please visit the HP of the scheme. The next distribution date is October 24-26.

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712
FAX: 045-550-4093 

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp