Japan's famed cherry blossom season blankets the country in the delicate white flowers of the prized "somei-yoshino" tree. The popular somei-yoshino strain accounts for more than 90 percent of the cherry trees planted in Japan and tend to emerge simultaneously in a given region. But some want change. The strain is prone to disease and tends to grow too large to be well managed in urban settings -- a headache for city planners "It's all about planting the right flora in the right place," says Hideaki Tanaka, a cherry blossom expert who wants to see Japan diversify away from the famed somei-yoshino and is trying to popularise other varieties. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES