One source adds it to a list of wildflowers that should be included as endangered,[10] but the so-called Eco kentei [ja] or environmental specialist certification, run by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), has had an exam question in the past, where the correct answer to "Is katakuri endangered" was "no".

[11] The Japanese ministry (MOE)'s version of the Red Data Book has not handed down an assessment of the whole species,[12] even though in the Red Data Book compiled by individual prefectures, its status is evaluated at "near threatened" (jun-zetsumetsu kigu shu) in Hyōgo and Mie,[12] and rated vulnerable-endangered in Shikoku and southern Kanto.

In Niiharu (Midori-ku, Yokohama), the colony was entirely wiped out (poached) overnight shortly after media coverage about it blooming in the area.

[13] A colony that can be viewed within the confines of metropolitan Tokyo is at Shimizuyama-ikoi-no-mori [ja] which translates approximately to "Shimizuyama grove of respite", in Nerima-ku.

This plant is not known to be farmed, and has been harvested from wild colonies by poachers, but probably not by seekers of starch sources, but by wildflower enthusiasts or traffickers.