Next to the Faculty for Medical Cares: Forest for Healthy Living, Fujisawa City 藤沢市健康の森

 

One of Yokohama’s neighbors is the city of Fujisawa. The place is famous for beach tourism, whose representative is Enoshima Island (; my post for June 30, 2017). Geologically speaking the City has 4 different kinds of features. One is Enoshima Island. Then there is beach front area where sandbanks and inlets were filled up by the sediments from the sea and several small rivers. These two areas, roughly south of National Route 1, are the most populated and urbanized sections of the city. The north of Route 1 is for the third and the fourth areas where there remains decent acreage of forests and farms. As such, there are large college campuses as well. One is College of Bioresource Sciences for Nihon University in the third geological area. The area is a mixture of hills and small valleys where farmers have engaged in their agricultural business for centuries. It’s apt that Nihon University has a large campus with experimental farms there. The fourth area is the northernmost area of the city where the Sagamihara Terrace is ending. It has the highest altitude of the city, for ASL 30-40 m. And in general, the terrain is flat. So, there is a large factory and warehouses for Isuzu and an extensive Shonan-Fujisawa Campus for Keio University. The area is a mixture of such large establishments, farmland, housings and forests. It has 33ha for the water source forest for Koide River, a tributary of Sagami River. It’s located right next to the Keio Campus. Today let’s start visiting this forest whose name is Forest for Healthy Living 健康の森. The idea of this forest is not apart from the existence of Keio University.

The designation of the Forest was originally included in the City Planning Mater Plan of Fujisawa City, formulated in 1999. (It was updated in March 2026.) There, the city would have forests of culture and health for the benefit of people of Fujisawa. Already, Keio University has a campus in the north of the city surrounded by a forest. So, “culture” part was well-established in 1999. Then there were the farmlands and forests next to the Campus, or to be exact the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care. Before Great Kanto Earthquake, this area had a large village engaged in wet-rice cultivation using the spring water for Koide River. Unfortunately, the land good for paddy cultivation was vulnerable to Magnitude 7.9. After the disaster, many people abandoned the area and greenery remained. (Keio’s Campus is on the hill, going up from the former rice paddy area.) Ironically it has worked well for nature conservation. When Fujisawa City thought the Master Plan, it was natural for the forests remained side-by-side with the faculty of medical care to be designated “Forest for Health” … er, it might be too easy idea at that time. But, now, the forest is suitable to be called “forest for Health” not only for humans, but for the ecology of all the living creatures.

To dive in the forest, first the access. The nearest public transportation facility for the forest is the commuter bus terminal for Keio Shonan Campus, named Keio University Bus Stop. There are two services to reach there. One is from Shonandai Station for Odakyu/Sotetsu/Yokohama City Subway. Another is from JR Tsujido Station. This note site, written by Student Government Association of Keio Fujisawa Campus, has a detail to use these services. Or, if you drive, there are parking spaces of 14 cars for the Forest, almost in front of Keio’s Nursing Faculty campus. It seems to me the parking is busy always. If you play safe, I recommend public transport. You get off the bus at Keio University Stop, then you may notice there is a large hospital building in front of the terminal. It is Keiiku Hospital affiliated with Keio University, famous for rehabilitation treatments. (My mom stayed there for two months after she broke her left femur due to osteoporosis.) Please cross the road and stand in front of the Hospital. Facing the hospital turn left and walk along the wide road which is Prefectural Road #410. 100m or so from the hospital, there is a road on our right. Turn right here and go along this road running in parallel to Road 410. At the 4th corner from the previous turning, 500m or so ahead, turn right. Both sides of the road are of grassland and a garden of shrubs. Ahead of us there is a forest. This is our destination today.

Keiiku Hospital’s over there.

A scene after turning right from the hospital

Our destination is over there in this photo.

200m or so from our final turning to the right, there is a small sign saying this is one of the 4 entrances to the Forest for Healthy Living. Next week, I tell you about my adventure in this Forest. It’s a relaxing walk on more or less flat trekking roads. Please stay tuned.

The signpost.
We are at the corner named Number 6.
In this exhibit, there is another forest named Forest for Boys,
west of the Forest for Healthy Living.
I haven’t checked it,
but it says there are large metasequoias,
non-native for Japan, in the center of the field.
Perhaps, it is a well-maintained garden.

Endosasakuboyato Park 遠藤笹窪谷公園

4840 Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, 252-0816
Japan

Phone: 0466-47-7760
https://endosasakuboyatokouen.jp/ 

Instagram: @endosasakuboyatokouen

Twitter: Making a bird call from wood scrap

 

Yeah, these days when we want to trick wild birds to chirp near us, we can open an app to play bird song and turn up the volume of our cell phone. A real bird would start singing a song to quell the intruder (from the net space) into its territory. That’s that. Though, there is more organic approach to the matter. We can make a bird call from wood scrap. The other day, GROUP the Creation and Voice of the Woods had a workshop to craft the tool from scrap from their forestry activities. The design of bird call this time was done by Mr. Harada Akatsuki. It was fun!

Blueprint

The artists for the GROUP prepared the mini logs from various thinned branches of wood. The size of a wood is small enough to be held by a human palm. We try several mini logs to find one with which we feel right in our hands. To make a sound from a scrap, Mr. Harada combined two mini-logs. The smaller part is defined as a tail of a bird.

We chose one of these.

My choice

The bigger “body” wood has 3 holes that were prepared by the artists beforehand. Into the center, we screw in a screw. This is the beak of a bird. The other two holes are eyes. We paint this surface of wood with color pencils and crayons. It is the face of a bird.

Screw in.

Who are you?

I am …

a varied tit!
Ishiyama-san for the GROUP told me
nothing in nature is in a simple color.
For the face of varied tit,
the brown part is a mixture of blue,
light brown and dark brown.

Next, screw in a tale of the bird. As we make the tool sing by turning this tail, we should stop screwing the screw just at the right point. For my call, I stopped the screw here as in the below photo.

After fixing the smaller scrap to the main part of the call, we file this “tale” to create 3-4 grooves around the rim in order to make holds for playing the tool.

Filing

To finish the work, we spray pastel fixative to stop the painted colors from being wiped away.

Done! My bird caller.

To make a bird song, we turn the “tale.” There is just a right point for each bird caller to sing a song. I tried several turns to find the point. Finding the sweet spot itself was enjoyable conversation with a scrap. Interestingly, the voice differs according to

1. The diameter and the length of a scrap,

2. The variety of wood. Some say cherry trees make the best voice. Others claim sounds of oaks are better. 

3. Probably, the size of a screw also matters.

In forests, sometimes real birds are tricked, and the other occasions the birds must have thought this human fool tried to con them in a supposed to be quiet forest. A caution. Too many bird callers, whether it is from your cell phone or wood scrap, could harm wild birds’ breeding behavior, and give too much stress from a mistaken turf war. Please be modest and OK with just a little bit of fun with birds. 😉

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

Start somewhere: Universal Access to Kami-sugetacho Citizen Forest II 上菅田町市民の森

 

Kamisusgetacho Citizen Forest is one of two Citizen Forests located in urban housing area of Hodogaya Ward. It has about 22000m2. As a Citizen Forest, it is in the smaller group. It has no public car-parking. The forest does not have toilet. No convenience store, or the like, nearby. Before visiting the place, please get done the necessary things when you need such facilities. No mini stores near tells this is the area where old families remain holding the land tenure.

The neighbor of the forest

Sure enough, after you get off the nearest commuter bus stop, along the way you can find ancient local religious facilities, like temples, shrine, and monuments for pagan religions. The most convenient bus stop to the forest is Terashitabashi Stop 寺下橋 for

Service 129 (between Sotetsu Tsurgamine Station and Shin-Yokohama Station)

Service 248 (between Sasayama Housing Complex and Senmarudai Housing Complex via Sotetsu Nishiya Station)

Service 256 (between JR Kamoi Station and Kamoi 6-chome)

Service 92 (between Yokohama Station and Sasayama Housing Complex)

Near the stop, there are these statues of Hayagriva.
 It means this road was once a busy utility road
where lots of packhorse drivers
came and went with their cargo.

You get off at Terashitabashi Stop and look to the East. You’ll find a small ridge covered by greenery. That’s the direction we aim for. Enter a small commuter road nearest to the bus stop in the direction of green ridge. Soon we cross a bridge over a small stream, then there is a Y crossing. Just before the bridge there is a small monument for ancient local religion in now a busy rental parking space. Choose the left road at the Y crossing. It is now a steep Yokohama slope. Keep on going and turn left at the second corner from the Y crossing. The road is sandwiched by farmland on our right and a hill of forest on our left. Shortly, Kami-Sugeta Special Support School is over there in front of us, and we’ll find entrances to Kami-Sugetacho Citizen Forest.

Terashitabashi Stop from Route 16 …

or Terashitabashi Stop from Shin-Yokohama Station.
Could you find a small road
turning to the left in this photo?
That’s the entrance to the route.

The scenery from the corner of
the above photo looks like this.

The ancient pagan statues, some 200-300 years old.
Now a car completely blocks the monument.

Cross the pequeño bridge …

Then take the left of the Y crossing.
Our destination is the forest over there.

The second road to the left.
Could you see a signpost?
It says “Kami-Sugeta Special Support School, this way.”
 Bingo.

The road is like this.

On our right is a farm field.

Actually, the forest that went along with us from the corner with the signpost is Kami-Sugetacho Citizen Forest. i.e. It’s on the hill. So, to enter the forest, we have to go up. The first two entrances we find to the forest are in steps, as many other Yokohama Citizen Forests. The uniqueness of Kami-sugetacho Forest is about 30m ahead. There is another entrance that is a paved slope wide enough for wheelchairs and stretchers to go in. Yeah, the route has a so-so slope-angle, but it is not as steep as the entrance slope for Koishikawa Botanical Garden or Wild Bird Park. If a wheelchairer uses a powerful motor, s/he could visit here alone, I guess.

And the left is Kami-Sugetacho Citizen Forest.

A standard entrance to Yokohama’s Citizen Forest.

And this is THE universal access entrance.

Inside the forest, strolling paths go around a peak of the hill (; the map is here). The route has 3 points with steps, but at least one of them has a sloped detour. All the roads are wide enough for wheelchairs. A fly in the ointment could be the paved area is limited in the forest. Still, the roads are well-built hard cray without bumps. I’m not sure if the maintenance of the environment is easy after a torrential rain, but the design of the road sets strategic inclinations here and there for drainages. As this is a very new citizen forest, we have to wait if the intention of landscape architect works well. But at least there is a will, which is a HUGE improvement, I think.

The road is wide.

The route is encircling the hilltop in the middle.

The space is ample for wheelchair maneuvering.

Non-paved but well-built road surface

This is one of the steps inside the route.
It is steep.
Probably,
we have to accept this typical slope of Yokohama.

Still the rest of the route is easy to walk.

The forest itself is a familiar Satoyama forest in Yokohama. It has many coppiced tall trees. It tells the place is remnants of charcoal-baking village life. As these trees are very large, the place must have been neglected for some time after petrol came into our daily life (= no demand for charcoal as fuel). A part of the slope facing the bus stop direction is covered by bamboos that also is evidence for a typical utility forest of yesteryears in Yokohama. As the design of the strolling paths is for universal access, the road is very easy to walk for everybody. There are several benches for visitors to sit and have a cup of tea from their thermos. One of the picnic points has a wide view for Mt. Fuji if the weather is right. I really hope the forest can offer an increased opportunity for people with disability to enjoy backyard nature in our own neighborhood. Kami-Sugetacho Forest is another start for Yokohama’s Citizen Forest.

Very large coppiced tree

Bamboos

Mt. Fuji is here!

Oh, I have to add this. FYI, next to Kami-sugetacho Citizen Forest, there is Kami-Sugeta East Park. The place is not for strolling in greenery, but for a baseball field, a lawned space, and toilets. The entrance to the Park is in the opposite side of the Forest. To borrow toilet there it could take at least 5-10 minutes’ walk from the exit of the Citizen Forest. Good luck.

Kami-Sugeta East Park

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