25.jpg
The after-work revelries are under way across Japan, with the nation noisily celebrating the annual arrival of the cherry blossoms with mobile karaoke machines and crates of beer. Experts warn, however, that the party could be drawing to a close.
隨著一年一度櫻花季的來臨，整個日本都沉浸在櫻花節的狂歡氣氛里。移動卡拉OK、成箱的啤酒，全體日本民眾都在閑暇時歡慶這一盛會。然而，專家警告稱，這樣的盛會今后可能不會再有。
Already threatened by rising temperatures and pollution in cities that have combined to reduce the number of flowers, the iconic cherry blossoms are also falling victim to time.
不斷上升的氣溫和日益嚴重的污染已經使櫻花數量減少，而作為日本的標志，櫻花也熬不過時間。
Planted in huge numbers in the decades after air raids devastated large parts of Tokyo and other cities, cherry trees usually live about 60 years before they fall prey to disease or they become too large for their roots.
東京等城市的大部分地區在二戰空襲中毀損嚴重。戰后幾十年里，日本大量種植櫻花樹，而櫻花樹的平均壽命約為60年。之后，櫻花樹就容易受到病蟲害威脅，或是已經長得太大，以致樹根無法負載。
A survey conducted in 2013 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government showed that 44,000 cherry trees dot the city. But an increasing number are ailing and need to be cut down, meaning that entire groves of trees that add a dash of pink to the unrelenting grey of Japan's cities may disappear.
2013年，東京都政府的一項調查顯示，東京共有櫻花樹4.4萬棵。而病樹的數量卻在不斷增長，急需被砍伐。這就意味著，在日本城區的凝重灰底上畫出一抹粉色的櫻花樹林最終可能會完全消失。
"Cherry trees usually live about 60 years so the ones we have in Tokyo are getting too big, are contracting diseases and are shedding branches," Kiroyuki Wada, a spokesman for the Japan Tree Doctors' Association, told The Telegraph.
“櫻花樹的壽命通常為60年，所以日本的這批櫻花樹已經長得太大了。很多樹都已染病，枝杈脫落。”日本樹木醫會發言人和田裕之(音)對英國《每日電訊報》表示。
"They need to be replaced and the Tokyo city government has tried to do that, but they have met resistance from local residents."
“這些樹需要更新換代。東京市政府曾做過嘗試，卻遭到當地居民的抵制。”
The local authority has attempted to carry out replacement programmes in several parts of the city, targeting trees that have raised pavements with their roots or have lost branches, but those plans have on occasions been thwarted.
市政府曾嘗試在東京幾個地區實行更新計劃，更新對象是那些樹根已撐破人行道或是枝杈開始脫落的櫻花樹，但這些計劃卻不時遭到民眾阻撓。
Vocabulary
fall prey to：深受…之害
unrelenting：冷酷的
thwart：阻止，阻撓
