What the Next Generation May See in 40 years’ time: Tsukuba Expo Forest つくば万博の森

 

Last week was for kids who’ll be adults in 20 years’ time. What would happen for the forests when they are in their 60s? This week, I tell you about my adventure in a forest that was a bald mountain in 1985, 40 years ago. The forest is not in Kanagawa Prefecture, but in Ibaraki Prefecture 茨城県. A bit far for this blog. But the forest has a unique character. It has a detailed record of its transition from an exposed range to a greenery. To guess the forests those kids in the YNU would have, this forest in Ibaraki can be a good baseline. The name of the place is Tsukuba Expo Forest つくば万博の森 of 9.87 ha state-owned land. Let’s go there near (?) University of Tsukuba.

The area spreads over the slopes of Mt. Hokyo 宝篋山 (ASL 461 m) in the south of Mt. Tsukuba (ASL 877m) 筑波山. It was a neglected Satoyama backyard. During the 1970s and the 1980s, the pine trees once covered the mountain were ravaged by pine wilt nematode. Imagine you enter a forest of dead or dying trees with sporadic other species escaping from the disease. Not many people enjoyed the stroll, I presume. In addition, the profitability of forestry from the area were nearing to zero: a typical story for Japanese forestry with no competitiveness after 1964 log-import liberalization. Then in 1985 the International Exposition was held in Tsukuba City. The theme of the fete was “Dwellings and Surroundings - Science and Technology for Man at Home.” Looking northeast from the festival site was Mt. Tsukuba and neglected Mt. Hokyo. Oh, by the way, unlike Kanagawa or Yokohama, Ibaraki Prefecture is mainly a flat land with the second largest lake, Kasumigaura 霞ヶ浦, for Japan. From the Expo venue, the drab slopes of Mt. Hokyo must have been seen clearly. I think people at that time felt embarrassed. The Asahi Shinbun Co. launched a fund-raising campaign to reforest the area. They established Forest Culture Association 森林文化協会 to manage the donation and to talk with Forestry Agency of Japan. In 1985, they contracted with the Japanese government, i.e. the landlord, for 60 years forestry in the area.

We’ve been there from Asahi Pass carparking.
From the site to the south,
we can observe a wide expanse of Ibaraki,
including Kasumigaura.

I don’t know if they had a clear scientific idea at that time for reconstruction of Satoyama forest. … I noticed these days the idea of “Satoyama” based on a solid scientific discussion is rather new, sort of 21st century approach. (More to it next year.) In any case, what the Forest Culture Association did was clearing the dead pines, conditioning the earth, and planting seedlings mainly of Japanese cypress and some of broad-leaved trees. I suspect they introduced the baby trees from the other areas, i.e. disturbed the gene pool of the original Mt. Hokyo. Whether it was a proper approach could be a topic of ideological debate for nature conservation, but one thing is sure. The sorry state of the Mt. Hokyo is successfully reconstructed 40 years later with healthy trees. For achieving 30by30 Goal, Ministry of Environment of Japan started in 2023 the registration project for Nationally Certified Sustainably Managed Natural Sites. For obtaining certification, the Office sets conditions requiring considerable efforts and money for the people taking care of their forest. Tsukuba Expo Forest has a backer, Asahi Shinbun Co. that can provide money and connections to experts for researching the site. The army of biologists studied the area aiming for the registration. They found lots of fauna and flora which call the Expo Forest home … more than 20 species of birds for both summer and winter, roughly 60 species of insects, 8 species of mammals, and more than 300 species of flora ... In 2024, the Tsukuba Expo Forest obtained the national certification as a place of rich biodiversity.

The forestry effort by the Forest Culture Association continues. They mow the forest floor, prune and thin the trees, and research the area. In early November this year, there was a small celebration in the Expo Forest for commemorating the 40th anniversary of the project. I had a chance to attend the occasion. The people of the Association together with the researchers for natural museums in Ibaraki Prefecture guided us to stroll the restored forest. There was no trace for the damage from pine wilt. The slope of Mt. Hokyo was covered by hinoki cypress of 50cm or so diameter. The people from the Association said they shipped the logs harvested from thinned cypress to the market. I’m sure logging in the nationally owned Expo Forest is not at all profitable, BUT, the forest has recovered to the level they can provide a product to the log market. Thinking their beginning as a forest of dead pine trees, this is something.

A healthy forest now

The choice of trees for afforestation was,
I think, very for the 20^th century Japan …
If we do a similar project in 2025,
I think we will not choose hinoki cypresses,
but the other broad-leaved trees.
For Satoyama restoration in Ibaraki Prefecture
 which is famous for its temperate climate,
 the trees would be deciduous …
 Anyway, Hinoki was the best choice 40 years ago.
That would be a tricky point for landscape restoration.
It takes VERY VERY long time to see the result.

Even though, it has an enviable forest floor
 with many kinds of plants.
In Tanzawa for Kanagawa Prefecture,
deer eat up almost anything and
only limited species hated by the animal cover the forest floor.

From a point on the slope,
we can observe Mt. Fuji far away …

The highest ridge of the forest is a cleared open space surrounded by azaleas and Japanese maples, probably situated as such by landscapers. There is a monument with the engraved names of donors who contributed to the original afforestation effort. Inevitably, this is the area where the number of visitors is the largest, and hence we can find some invasive vegetation like Broomsadge bluestem. But, the researchers said, out of 313 flora species verified in the forest, only 22 species were invasive, which was a signal for a well-maintained environment. There remain 20 more years for the contract the Forest Culture Association has with the government. We’ll see how the place evolves from here. At this moment we can tell the kids we met at YNU that this properly taken-care-of forest will be a nice place for their retirement party. It could be good news, as long as we keep looking after the forest. Not bad, don’t you think?

The memorial on the ridge

Er, so I should tell you how to go there. Actually, it is rather tricky. The best route would be hiking to the peak of Mt. Hokyo. It’s a popular destination for one-whole-day hike. The Expo Forest spreads the north slopes immediately to the peak. i.e. It takes 2-3 hours’ climbing from any entrance to the hiking routes for Mt. Hokyo. … To any beginning of the trekking route, we take a bus from TX Tsukuba Station for about an hour, or from JR Tsuchiura Station for about half an hour. Me? We took an extreme shortcut by using microbus thanks to Asahi Shinbun Co. They brought us to the point where the monument is in about an hour walk in a relatively easy strolling path. Our shortcut was for permit holders only … sorry. But thanks to such remoteness, the local biodiversity is preserved to the level of national registration, so the researchers say. Hm, OK. Maybe we have to add one more thing for our encouragement to the kids. Yeah, we do our best to care the natural treasure for you, but the nice place may not be so easy to go for your retirement party in the end. *Sigh*

There was this sign showing the way
to the peak of Mt. Hokyo and the Expor Forest.

Our easy way

TX Tsukuba Station

If you have any questions about Tsukuba Expo Forest, please make a contact with

The Forest Culture Association @ Asahi Shinbun Co.
Phone: 03-5540-7686 

https://www.shinrinbunka.com/

Next Generation: School of Forest ＠ Yokohama National University

 

ESD. Some of you may ask “What?” There are several technical terms which use this acronym. This week our adventure is with an acronym for Education for Sustainable Development. As the homepage for UNESCO says here, it’s a movement for educating kids and adults to tackle problems stemming from climate change. Climate causes economic and social problems, so talking about global poverty is also an important topic for ESD. But in Japan, the curriculum for ESD employed by schools is mainly for environmental issues connecting to SDGs goals for 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life below Water), and 15 (Life on Land) … er, well, it would be a symbolic phenomenon to describe Japanese society in 2025 … Anyway, teachers and, to be exact for this week’s post, trainees who plan to be teachers are educating themselves / ourselves for the way to communicate the environmental issues with kids. Especially for urban pre-schoolers and 1st – 2nd graders who are not familiar with the natural environment, educators employ nature games. Recently, I happened to have a chance to attend an actual session for nature games designed and carried out by college students for Yokohama National University (YNU). I tell you. It was a FUN!

A workshop for YNU art class

In this post-COVID environments, the young attitude for environmental issues is more serious than that of, say, octogenarians. Grandpas and grandmas will perish sooner or later before seeing the consequences of global warming. But 20 somethings will be 40 somethings in 20 years’ time when the average temperature for August in Tokyo could be more than 40C°. College students must worry and honestly act to increase the number of collaborators to tackle the problem. These days there are lots of young people in campus to think and discuss the topic. They also form voluntary groups to act upon their discussion to stop a possible catastrophe, even if it may be a tiny act of tending downtown gardens that may contribute to the mitigation of “heat islands.” Also the classes for the topic are popular. Faculties for environmental studies are receiving lots of applications from highschoolers. Those YNU students who devised the nature games study at Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences. Many are planning to be science teachers after graduation. They call themselves YNU Satoyama ESD Base. They are serious about creating fun ESD programmes.

The YNU students wore a red uniform jacket
during the session.

About 20 years ago, the president for YNU was the chairperson for Japan Association on the Environmental Studies. He ordered the entire campus “Never cut down the tree.” Many members of the community murmured complaints for their campus approaching to a temperate jungle. But now, the premise is an amalgam of research buildings, classrooms and deep forest. It makes the place ideal for nature games to kids. In one weekend for the end of this fall, the college students of Satoyama ESD Base held a “School of Forest” inviting to their campus about 30 pre and grade schoolers with their parents. They are having such sessions several times in a year. They are secretly popular events among families in Yokohama. The possible number of attendees is limited, and a lottery is held every time. One mum told me her daughter applied 3 times to the session and reached BINGO for the third time. Many attendees are joining the fun as an entire family, meandering a jungle-like forest of YNU. This fall’s main program had two menus. One is “Let’s create Forest Mask!” Another is “Let’s unleash your inner penmanship with bamboo brush.”

Inside the campus.
Art students installed their work there.

 In addition to the sessions, there were several games
kids could play whenever they wanted.

They also presented panels explaining SDGs and
Japanese traditional Satoyama life
for environmental sustainability.

To make forest masks, kids entered roughly 50m*50m area of YNU jungle and gathered materials like fallen leaves, autumn fruits, snail shells, feathers of some birds, etc. etc. The kids then returned to a workshop, pasted their catch on a strip of craft paper, and connected both sides of a strip with a rubber band. Voilà! Your forest mask was done! It seemed to me all preschoolers found themselves in a totally unfamiliar place, i.e. a forest. Yet, they ran around, and sometimes fell down on, the unpaved mountain(-like) area covered with fallen leaves and the other debris of autumn forest. YNU students were watching the adventure of tiny kids to secure the safety but left the attendees for their adventure to find catches. What the kids brought from the forest differed greatly although they were searching in a same area. When they pasted their catch to the craft paper, they became tiny artists to make their mask cool. During the entire session, the children were carefree with shining smile. With their laughing kids, parents looked very happy as well. There was nothing elaborate for crafting the mask, but surely kids enjoyed the nature.

The catch

Thinking what to put next …

The craft paper attached with a rubber band …

Then, connected to another end.

This certainly was THE presentation.

Another program was to make bamboo brush and to calligraph with it. The way to make a brush is simple. You harvest a bamboo on the day of making brushes. Cut them to a suitable length for making calligraphy, then peel the skin of it at its edge long enough for a brush. Next, pound the peeled part with a mallet until the solid trunk of a bamboo becomes a bunch of fibre. The freshly cut bamboo contains water so that it is easier for squashing the trunk for a brush. Voilà! Your forest brush is ready! Next you write down whatever you want to on a sheet of Hanshi-paper. Your presentation will join the larger mural of calligraphy. Finally, please go to a white banner and write down anything you want on the banner with your bamboo brush. Your writing becomes a part of “Manifest” of today! Many first graders who started their Japanese calligraphy class in their school wrote down a word of their choice. Some googled in their parents’ smart phones to write down a difficult names of Anime characters, like Agatsuma Zen’itsu 我妻善逸 of the Damon Slayer 鬼滅の刃. (Why not Kocho Shinobu 胡蝶しのぶ? Hers is Hiragana!) The kids were enjoying the occasion for writing graffiti-like presentations on a very large canvas. They again showed their own originality with twinkling eyes. The program was to experience the relation between the forest and human daily life, in a very creative way. I was impressed.

The bamboo sticks with the skinned tips,
prepared by college students early this morning.

Pounding

An example. This was created last spring. 

This is impressive.

A dud also tried enthusiastically.

Manifest!

For kids in urban area like Yokohama, it is not common to enjoy forest even if Citizen Forests of the City is in their backyard (; more to it next year). Such events to play in a forest with college students must be a thrilling and fun adventure for them. I was also fascinated by the enthusiasm of students who not only leaded preschoolers for their fun but also enjoyed the program they devised in their campus. I hope such experience sticks to their memory for a long time and helped their life in a boiling planet. Theirs should be long, for tens of years to come. Long live the New Generation. Oh, one more thing. I think those college students are bilingual. If you’re living in Yokohama and want to bring your kids to School of Forest, please check their home page for the latest information. Caution: it’s a highly competitive ticket.

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712
FAX: 045-550-4093 

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp

Sleep well … Making eye pillow with Chrysanthemum

 

Ah, December … the atmosphere of the town is busy, busy, jolly … And in Kanto Region, the weather continues to be more or less fine and VERY dry. The area around Tokyo is geologically demarcated by ASL 1500+m mountains from the rest of Japan. Riding the westerly winds, the cold and wet atmosphere from the north and west discard their moisture in these mountains as snow. Then their dry winds blow down to the cities. Dry skin is a huge problem for everyone even if a person is not so keen about cosmetics. Not only that, some people, like me, have exasperated problem of dry eyes. Yeah, I know the best prescription would be to lesson the online time per day. I know, I know, I know …

My collection of eye drops, prescription version

So, in this time of the year, I carefully control my time with contact lenses and invest in the bottles of eye drops for symptomatic treatment. Recently, I’ve added another approach to the issue. Using eye pillows. These days there are several products we can find in drug stores. In addition, I learned chrysanthemum can help. It’s an application of Potpourri.

Store-bought version of eye pillows.
It has a lavender aroma.

My dear eye pillow

Chrysanthemum of several kinds are in the ingredient list for traditional Chinese medicine. Professionally compounded one could be taken orally, and good to alleviate the tiredness of eyes. I’m not a pharmacist, so I decided to take a safer option. How to is simple. I deadhead the mum flowers, dry them, then stuff them in a cloth pochette large enough to cover the eyes. I’m still in the drying stage, but the flowers already emit that characteristic aroma of chrysanthemum. … I’m day-dreaming winter hibernation …

Drying

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課
Phone: 045-671-2712
FAX: 045-550-4093 

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp

Potato or Rose: Global Warming and Urban Agriculture, Yokohama Style, Shiba Seaside Village of Belssings 柴シーサイド恵みの里

 

First, what’s there in Shiba Seaside Village of Blessings? The place is an amalgam of local farming fields, roughly 3/4 of the area, and public allotments, 1/4. The Village spreads over the ridge of a steep hill whose east slope is housing area of Shiba Town tumbling down to the Tokyo Bay. The other three directions are still forests geographically continuing from Shomyoji Citizen Forest 称名寺市民の森 (; my post for December 4, 2015). The project for Land Improvement District sorted out previously scattered small patches of veggie fields in a forest and widened the cultivable land on the ridge.

The map shown at the admin office

The forest to the east

The professionally cultivated farmlands receive funding from Yokohama Green Tax to organize regular public events. Some are weekly, and the others are seasonal. Every weekend, Saturday and Sunday morning (8:00-) except New Year’s holidays, they hold a farmers’ market in the open space of admin building. I tell you it’s a popular market so that almost all the products are sold out before noon. Seasonally, they have 3 events for farming experience, all from 9:00-14:00 (to register at the admin office: the contact address is at the end of this post). They are

🥔Potato Harvesting

From mid-May to mid-June, except Monday, or until potato is there.

1000 yen per portion


Taro Harvesting

Every Saturday from early-November to mid-December, or until taro is there.

1000 yen per portion (2 clumps … I think it’s a bargain!)


🍊Tangerine Harvesting

From mid-October to the end of November (for Unshuh variety), and the first two weeks of December (for Hayaka variety which is SWEET), or until the fruits are there.

All you can eat in the orchard (with time limit), and you can bring your harvest home.

Elementary school kids + : 1200 yen

3-5 years old: 500 yen

0-2 years old: free

In early October,
tangerines were waiting for the harvest time.

It seems to me one of the farmers are thinking banana
 ... serious?

The Admin Office

The remaining 1/4 of the Village is the allotment gardens managed by JA Yokohama. There are 510 allotments and the cost for renting varies around 10000 yen per year according to the section. The contract duration is 5 years and renewable. In addition to agreeing these basics, the conditions for application are (1) you have to be registered as a resident for the City of Yokohama, (2) one section per family, i.e. you and your spouse must share the same allotment. The renters can build a shed if they like for their tools. In the admin office building, there are shower rooms and rockers for allotmenteers. I met one lady there nurturing her sweet potato. She said “You know, this year was hard for tomato, but I’m fairly content with my bell peppers. The problem is, I love to plant veggies, but my husband wants to have roses. It’s a family problem!” Sure. As of November 30, 2025, there are 46 vacant sections among 510 allotments. If you think to try your veggie in Yokohama, please make a contact with the admin office shown at the end of this post.

Allotment section for Shiba Seaside Village

The water problem of the Village is somehow controlled. By the project, they built a pump house which collects the rainwater and uses groundwater vein. Surely such technological setting was not possible for subsistence farming before the project. Still, especially with the heatwave of this year, everybody had to accommodate with available water. For allotmenteers, the faucet for their section was opened for about 2-3 hours each day during this summer. They had to adjust their daily schedule for tending their plants. That lady told me the JA considerably allocated the water-time mainly for early evenings so that the risk of heatstroke for people was lessened. Still, she said “Well, you know, we’re seriously thinking the veggies we can nurture in summer these couple of years. I’m strongly opposed to my husband’s plan for roses, a heavy drinker.” Er, well. Here is another problem Global Warming can bring to a family table …

The pumping station for the Village

Even so, Shiba Village is a peaceful place. The sections are spreading over (artificially perhaps) mild slope of a hill going down to the sea. The vista is spectacular. One of the personnel for JA Yokohama told me, when he thinks hitting a wall in his work, he always visits here and takes deep breaths in the veggie patches surrounded by forests and sea. What’s in store next for Shiba Village with the new era of Global Warming? No one knows for sure. But at least we locals of Yokohama are thinking whether rose or potato, while harvesting tangerines. 😉

To the Tokyo Bay

The access to Shiba Seaside Village of Blessings is mainly by car. The direction is shown here. With public transportation, the easiest would be from Umino-koen Shibaguchi Station 海の公園柴口 of Kanazawa Seaside Line. You get off the monorail service at the Station and walk a bit to Shiba Fishing Port. Cross the street at Shiba Fishing Port Traffic Light and go straight to the direction of the hill, passing Bakery Bremen and Tairaya Supermarket. Cross another traffic light in front of the Tairaya to the direction of the hill, and start climbing steep slope, higher and higher. Suddenly, you realize you reach the ridge, and the Village is spreading before you. In the middle of the farming field, there is a building which is the admin office.

Umino-koen Shibaguchi Station

The bakery. We go up to the top of the hill over there.

The contact for Shiba Seaside Village of Blessings 柴シーサイド恵みの里 is,

Administration Office, JA Yokohama Shiba Farm
Phone: 045-785-6844
Fax：045-788-8588