Japanese cities' lack of seasonal balance due to a man-made biodiversity

[DoctorP]

But Okinawa is hardly Japan.

I have lived in many areas of Japan. I, myself, do not refer to Okinawa as Japan, I will call it Okinawa. It is much different than the rest of Japan. You are the one whose view has been limited to a confined area.

Most Japanese live in big cities, not in the countryside.

Actually many have homes in both areas. They live in the city during the work week and escape during the weekends!

Why the hell would I criticise the way nature is in a specific part of the world ? What matters is how humans interact with it and control it. The Japanese cut their beautiful forests to plant "sugi", then put concrete on every mountain, hill, river bank or coast that can come into contact with people,

I think that the concrete you refer to is used to prevent soil runoff, and damage to the environment (at least in the countryside). You say that they cut their forests, but I know of many forests that have never been touched.

[Maciamo]

It is much different than the rest of Japan. You are the one whose view has been limited to a confined area.

Are you pretending to know better than me which places I have been to in Japan ? I can tell you that among all the cities I have seen in Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kansai, Chubu, Kanto or Hokkaido, almost all fit the description I made of Tokyo regarding the lack of diversity in trees, and the lack of nature within the city in general compared to European cities of the same size. Naturally a town of 100,000 inhabitants will be greener than Tokyo, but never as green as in Europe. Even Japanese villages tend to have all houses concentrated around the centre (usually around the station), with no or very small gardens/backyards for each house. In Europe, even in the big cities like London people have a backyard (and/or frontyard), with trees, flowers, little birds... No wonder most Japanese are clueless about plant names beyond the few "nationalist symbols" like sakura, ume, fuji, kiku or tsutsuji.