As a planned face-lift for Tokyo's Ueno Park goes forward in preparation for the 2020 Olympics, residents are asking that the government refrain from cutting down decades-old trees.
A group of citizens called Ueno Koen no Ki wo Mamoru Kai (Group for the protection of Ueno Park trees), submitted a petition to Gov. Yuriko Koike on Friday asking that the metropolitan government not cut down any more trees in the park.
The petition that was initially submitted bore the signatures of 1,217 people, which the group said had been collected in about 24 hours. As of Monday afternoon, more than 20,000 people had signed it on Change.org.