On summer bounty: supermarket time vs. forest’s time

Before, I had a simple connotation for “Summer” with lots of veggies. In Japanese summer, vegetables in supermarkets are dominated with colorful palette, compared with earthy tones of fall or winter greens. “How vivid!” You know. Price wise, familiar vegetables, such as tomato and cucumber, are cheaper during summer. Provided not much fluctuation in demand, increased supply creates lower prices, right? “So, summer has plenty of blessings from the mother nature!” … er, these couple of years, I’ve started to notice the story is a bit more complicated. My understanding for “summer bounty” was half-cooked, dominated by marketing of supermarket chains. I’ve learned, at least in Kanto region 関東 July and August are lean season for vegetable farmers if they follow the dictation of the nature. The climax of summer vegetables comes June here, and the mid-summer is holiday for the soil preparing for fall-winter harvests. Hm, yeah, it’s just like us, humans having summer vacation. Watermelons and corns during August in Yokohama are thanks to the advancement of logistics bringing foods with lots of mileages, and heavily artificial agricultural technology up to the level of genetics.

In Yokohama,
 June is the high-season for corns.

This tomato is harvested this morning
 in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Yeah, the matter of food-mileage is here …
 but watermelons from Nagano Prefecture 長野県 is sweet in June.

We in megalopolis Tokyo had several heavy snows during last winter … In February we Niiharu Lovers 新治市民の森愛護会 postponed charcoal baking due to one heavy snowfall. Then, suddenly, temperature shot up and cherry blossoms concluded their party by the end of March. I don’t know if such knee-jerk changes in season have affected the bounty we can receive from the nature … One thing is for sure. This year, the timing for spring to early-summer harvesting like bamboo shoots, plums, berries, etc. from the forests in Yokohama and Kanagawa is 3-4 weeks earlier, and their yield is smaller compared with the last year at least. For weekend caregivers for the forests who made 2018 plan at the end of last year, it’s a disappointing year. Harvesting shoots of Japanese timber bamboo in June is a bit too late this year. The tree of Morella rubra that gave me in 2017 lots of jelly, juice and liquor has completed its fruiting season early June with far smaller fruits. They ignored my holiday schedule completely … That’s the nature … of global warming, perhaps.

The ice in this tab had more than 10cm of thickness this January …

Before June is ending,
 shoots for Japanese bamboos has reached to such maturity already
 … I don’t think any part of them is edible.

Recently, we Niiharu Lovers welcomed several new volunteers. One of them introduced himself “I was born in Shinjuku 新宿, near skyscrapers, and had not seen carrots growing in the soil until I was 17 years old. That was shocking to see them having green leaves sprouting from their top!” He moved in Yokohama several years ago, and became interested in organic farming. He told me the other day he had an exciting visit to the agricultural experiment station of Meiji University in Kawasaki. There, the researchers study the latest methodology of farming including organic and no-till. “You know, to achieve organic or up, they separate everything for growing crops between the organic and standard commercial approaches … seeds, land, tools for growing including tractors and boots. It’s for avoiding contamination. Organic farming takes time to reach to the harvest, but the result could be gorgeous vegetables … If we grow heirloom tomato organically, for one seedling of 5 or 6 branches beginning to produce juicy tomato it takes at least 2 months.” “Wow, is that so? But if we plant a seedling of the same size bought from garden centers, and plant it in our garden with garden compost, we don’t have to wait that long, do we?” “Now, that’s the point! Plants need enough time to yield a fruit, and if that’s shortened, it means some genetic modification, lots of artificial hormones, and/or some other tricks are applied to the commercial plants from garden centers.” “Wooooooow …” “Oh, yeah, I’ve learned it in the experiment station.”

Many kinds of cukes in a garden center.
 I bet you they will fruit within a month in your planter.

Come to think of it, no natural thing declares “Today is the beginning of summer and so we change our mode from spring to summer in terms of sunshine, water, air circulation, soil condition…” Everything in a forest changes according to its own pace that is often seemingly slowly. But the difference in leaves between April and September is enormous at least in Kanagawa Prefecture. Bridal wreath in Tanzawa 丹沢 was gorgeous last May, but already in the end of June they turn into pointy green berries that will be brown in autumn and remain on the branches in next May. White flowers of Japanese snowbell quickly ended their flowering stage in May, and now in June have lots of green balloon-like berries. They’ll have coffee color this fall. In March jamasakura cherries stunningly bloomed. Before we knew it, they now bear tiny fruits falling from the branches to dot the mountain roads of June … Daphne pseudomezereum, which was so distinctive with their freshly green leaves and pretty yellow flowers during monotone winter, now discreetly, stands in the burst of green of hot and humid forests of Kanagawa in June. Then apparently suddenly they bear bright red and oh-so-poisonous fruit that is a sign they are going to shed all the leaves within a couple of weeks to be completely invisible during summer ... I’m a kind of getting used to the clock of forest little by little. Their “time” is definitely different from ours of city-rats. If we force them to follow our pace, it’s the sign of “tons of hormonal drugs applied by humans, you know?” Yeah, it’s fun to have summer holiday of watermelons and corns in August. But now I think I’m going to do it this summer with a sort of trepidation.

In June chestnut trees already have cute burrs.

They are babies of tangerines.
 They need at least 7 more months to be sweet.

Fagara ailanthoides have already had
 this much fruits in June.
 They gradually mature and will be black
 with a bit too much sweet smell in October.

Green young berries of Parabenzoin praecox in June of Yokohama Nature Observation Forest.
 Once upon a time, villagers used the ripened berries and twigs
 of this tree for extracting oils for reading light.
 Oh, by the way, in Nature Observation Forest,
 nothing can be harvested, you know.

In Yokohama in June,
  Orixa japonica also has green fruits already.
 When matured in mid-autumn,
 they turn brown and eject black seeds from their clam-like pod.
 After sprewing the seeds, the pods close again
 and staying pretty on the boughs
 until the new leaves sprout early spring
 … But why do they close the mouth again?

Pretty fruits of Daphne pseudomezereum in June of Yokohama.
 We can find them often in Tanzawa
 where deer lavage the undergrowth.
 The clever creature knows the plant is poisonous,
 and so,
 they do not eat any part of them.
 I wonder why the plant has
 such an appetizing color for their fruits, then
 … They will soon shed all the leaves and fruits
 and become like sticks sprouting from the ground
 during high-summer.
 That’s their shape to have summer holiday.

If you find a problem in Yokohama’s forests, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North北部公園緑地事務所

Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-311-2016

FAX: 045-316-8420

Or

Office for the Park Greeneries in the South 南部公園緑地事務所

Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-831-8484

FAX: 045-831-9389

The Squeakquel: Japanese squirrels and Formosan Squirrels in Kanagawa Prefecture

Squirrels are small. One of my senior Forest Instructors is a registered hunter for Kanagawa Hunting Club. He said under Japanese jurisdiction standard gun for hunting is shotguns. Hunters then choose bullets according to a game. The smallest 410A is inevitably for the smallest animals. “These days, it’s made of iron, not lead, in order to avoid any possibility of poisoning after use.” “Wow, is that so?” One day, he happened to shoot a squirrel with 410A and “It exploded to pieces! That was the stupidest thing I’ve done while hunting!” Oh my … Imagining the last moment of that tiny creature was … really sad … They are petit and lovely, aren’t they? Hm, well, one kind of them are causing a trouble these days in Yokohama and the south-east of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Table Manner of Japanese squirrel

Japan has three endemic squirrels, Japanese squirrel (Sciurus lis), Japanese giant flying squirrel (Petaurista leucogenys), and Japanese dwarf flying squirrel (Pteromys momonga). I’ll report you my experience with 2 airborne squirrels later this summer. Today is related to Japanese squirrel. They live in the forests of not-so-high mountains of Honshu 本州 and Shikoku 四国 Islands. (Hokkaido 北海道 has Hokkaido squirrel and Hokkaido chipmunk both of which are in the families of squirrels in Siberia.) According to Wikipedia, an adult weighs about 250-300g with busy winter ears, changes fur color of their back between summer (red-brown) and winter (grayish white), and eats while its flowing tail is neatly positioned on its back. Japanese squirrels are semi-vegetarian with nuts, seeds, and occasional insects. Fortunately, they are not yet on the red list of endangered species for Japan. In Kanagawa Prefecture, their home is in Tanzawa 丹沢 and Hakone 箱根. So far, so good, right? It sounds it’s difficult to meet squirrels in the parks of downtown, doesn’t it? Now you visit or live in cities of Kanagawa Prefecture, like Yokohama or Kamakura 鎌倉. You have a relaxing weekend walk in a forest surrounded by houses, or sanctuary of ancient temples. And you may have a glimpse of small but long-tailed creatures hopping between the boughs. Squirrels! Cute! Not so fast, please.

Last month, I’ve been to Nagano Prefecture,
 and found lots of pine cones with food prints of Japanese squirrel.

When a Japanese squirrel finishes all the pine nuts from a cone,
 its food print is this.
 We call it “shrimp fritters.”
 They can regularly be found in the mountains of Kanagawa Prefecture.

In Japanese forests these days, there live the other kinds of squirrels too. For example, families of Siberian chipmunk and Eurasian red squirrel were first imported after the 1970s as pets or exhibition animals. They escaped from their captivity. Their Japanese habitat is still limited now, but National Institute of Environmental Studies listed them as “invasive” as they can compete with Japanese squirrel or Japanese dormouse. Moreover, there is an already established villain in Japanese forests. They are Formosan squirrel which first escaped to the wild of Oshima Island 大島 in 1935. Since then, they multiplied to dominate the island’s forest, gnawed electrical wires, and ate fruits of camellias that are for camellia oil which is the main ag-product of the their economy. In the early 1950s, Formosan squirrels were started to appear in the forests of the City of Kamakura. People said they escaped from Samuel Cocking Garden of Enoshima 江の島 (; do you remember we’ve visited there last summer in “Battle of Sexes”?) where the commercial garden raised them for tourists’ attraction. Since then, they are appearing in the forests of tourism spots near population centers. What Japanese government is anxious is the possibility of repeating British experience where Eastern grey squirrel imported during the 19^th century are driving island’s squirrel into extinction and influencing the decrease in population of wild birds, like dusky thrushes, woodpeckers, and European jays. Formosan squirrel is listed in Invasive Alien Species Act and prohibited now to be imported, transported or raised in Japan. And Kanagawa prefecture, especially the south of Yokohama, Kamakura, and Miura Peninsula 三浦半島, is on the frontline of the problem.

Formosan squirrel in Segami Citizen Forest

Formosan squirrels are bigger than Japanese native. Adult weighs 300-400g with gray-brown fur which doesn’t change seasonally. They were from Asian tropical rain forests where lots of fruits are available year-round. The easy access to food and always hot temperature made them bigger and fecund. They can produce 1-3 pups whenever. From conception to pup’s leaving the nest, it’s only 80 days, and a female becomes an adult within a year. But rich ecosystem of the tropics provides many kinds of predators that keep the population of Formosan squirrel in check. In contrast, Japan has 4 seasons. Especially during winter to spring, the forests are freezing cold. Probably because of this, Formosan squirrels in Japan produce pups only 1-2 times per year. The availability of fruits in winter-spring forests is strictly limited for relatively large squirrels. But, hey, next to the Yokohama Citizen Forest is urban ag-lands for veggies of humans. In addition, this larger mammal throws away highly nutritious foods whenever (and wherever) convenient. They can even give squirrel foods in the garden of Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine 鶴岡八幡宮, in return for a “cute selfie together” as a memory of visiting Kamakura. Finally, forests around the megalopolis Tokyo do not have many raptors, large snakes, or wild mammals, as in tropical rain forests. i.e. Safe. The Formosan squirrels in Kanagawa are now like nuclear families in Yokohama or Kamakura. Although they have fewer babies than in their ancestral land, they nurture the pups in a protected, or artificial, environment, by commuting to food spots, and let their kids grow large. The population of adult Formosan squirrels has exploded. After first spotted in wild in the 1950s, they become common in Kamakura during the 1980s, and at the turn of the 21^st century they are regulars in the Yokohama’s South Forests, like Maioka 舞岡, Segami 瀬上, Kanazawa 金沢, Hitorizawa 氷取沢, Kamariya 釜利谷, and Nature Observation Forest. That is the problem for humans.

In cold Japanese forest, Formosan squirrels build a nest
 with tightly knit twigs to keep inside warm.
 I think this is one of their houses,
 found in Yokohama Nature Observation Forest.
 They are rather too large for crows and look dense.
 It’s easier to find them during fall to winter
 when the trees shed the leaves.

First, commercial farmers in the east Kanagawa Prefecture found themselves as victims of meals for squirrels. Producing winter vegetables is a lucrative business in the suburb of Tokyo. Yokohama is one of the nation’s biggest producing areas for Japanese mustard spinach, a popular winter green. Such veggies are also liked by squirrels in winter. Citruses, persimmons, grapes … orchards for such fruits which could provide nice income during winter holidays attract lots of hopping and munching squirrels during cold weather. Then, the other incidences emerged. When Formosan squirrels cannot find meal during winter, they start licking saps by stripping the barks off from the trees like camellia, Machilus thunbergii, Japanese zelkova, and maple. Substantial pealing from a tree during winter = gardling is a standard procedure for forest thinning. The citizen forests and the other protected areas in the south-east Kanagawa are now having a possible deterioration of the forest due to the squirrels. The worst case scenario is, Formosan squirrels cross Sagami River 相模川 and enter Tanzawa and Hakone where Japanese squirrels live. There, the similar story of Britain with Eastern grey squirrel can come. Formosan squirrels may win over the Japanese squirrels and the other animals and birds for food, and could destroy trees that already have problems with deer. The municipalities of Yokohama, Kamakura, Yokosuka, Miura, Zushi, and Hayama Town have special budget for controlling the squirrel population to stop such things to happen. Controlling? Yes, they use mousetrap to capture, euthanizing by CO2, and incinerating them as industrial garbage. Yuk.

This camellia at the entrance of Enkaisan Hiking Course is
 literally eaten alive by Formosan squirrels.
 Could you see a particular kind of scars on its trunk?
 That’s the sign.

Here is another.
 It’s Machilus thunbergii in Yokohama Nature Observation Forest.
 Both camellia and Machilus thunbergii could
 withstand the attack of squirrels up to a point.
 In contrast, those trees which shed their old barks en masse,
 such as Japanese zelkova and maple,
 react to gnawing of squirrels with
 substantial falling of their skin,
 and often die easily.

All in all, it’s a typical tale of unintended consequences born out of careless action of humans. Formosan squirrels did not come to Japan by their own decision, but ended up stranded. One ranger for Yokohama Nature Observation Forest is sanguine. “Well, if there is nothing to eat, it’s natural for squirrels to chew anything useful for survival, isn’t it?” Yeah … besides, in the suburban forest of Yokohama or Kamakura, they are certainly substantial and cute mammal that we hikers can meet relatively easily. Er, well, if you plan to have a selfie with Formosan squirrel in Japan, please visit the large shrines and temples in Kamakura. The squirrels there are a sort of city squirrels very relaxed to be fed by food from tourists. They positively come near you begging something to eat. If you oblige their request, the animals will give you a chance to have a photo with them in return. Quid pro quo. Clever … but … at least those which hopping between the trees in the citizen forests of Yokohama, they are more cautious and moving rapidly high above the heads of us hikers. Not only shaking boughs of trees, Formosan squirrels in the forest are also barking in the woods. In tropical rain forests, when they realize a snake is approaching to swallow their pups, they call each other with a voice similar to sparrow but in more urgent, thicker, and louder way to call for collective defense. For approaching raptors, their voice becomes similar to short-circuited cry of angry crows to let their fellow to stop moving and to become invisible from the above. When a larger mammal predator is coming from the ground, they really bark like a dog, in a very low voice to signal the others to escape higher of trees. If you walk in Yokohama’s South Forests, and hear something like bird’s call, but it sounds more robust, that’s the voice of squirrels. One day, I was welcomed by such dog-like barking from the above near the visitor center of Nature Observation Forest. Squirrel! So, mean Naomi was doing circles around the tree where the voice came from. As I enjoy my leisurely circling, the call got more and more rapid and hysteric, or neurotic, I would say.

 “Gwow, gwow, gwow, gwow, gwow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Hmmmm. Naomi did not have any plan to capture you to incinerate … though you may not know … The city life of Formosan squirrel is not easy in Yokohama in the end, I guess.

If you find a problem in the South Forest of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the South 南部公園緑地事務所

Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-831-8484 (I guess in Japanese only)

FAX: 045-831-9389 (I hope there is somebody who can read English …)

Yokohama Nature Observation Center at Yokohama Nature Sanctuary

横浜自然観察の森自然観察センター

Phone: 045-894-7484

FAX: 045-894-8892 

River’s Edge, a sort of: Higashi-Takane Forest Park of Kanagawa Prefecture 県立東高根森林公園

The City of Kawasaki, the other side of Tama River when you look from Tokyo, does not in general have a connotation of greenery. Just checking in Google Earth, we easily recognize, aside from 100m or so wide river side of Tama River, the place is almost covered by buildings and industrial roads. No one says definite Nah about the location with a rotten dead body in “River’s Edge” (not by Tim Hunter, but by Kyoko Okazaki) as somewhere in Kawasaki. Though, miraculously, the city has several secluded forests, one of which is Higashi-Takane Forest Park of Kanagawa Prefecture 県立東高根森林公園. Let’s go there this week. As this is a well-managed park, finding an abandoned body would be extremely difficult, I bet. 😌

The nearest commuter train station for the Park is Kuji Station 久地駅 of JR Nambu Line 南武線 which runs along “the Japanese Silicon Valley”, aka Kawasaki-side of Tama River. From Kuji Station, we first enter the largest cemetery of Kawasaki City, Midorigaoka Cemetery 緑が丘霊園, stroll clean and quiet paved roads for about 10 minutes, and reach 85 / 86 blocks for graves where the steep steps go down to the wetland of Higashi-Takane Park. The nearest bus stop for the Park is Shinrin-koen Mae Stop 森林公園前, aka Forest Park Stop, of services of Mizo-10, 11, 15-19 （溝10・11・15・16・17・18・19系統） from JR Musashi-Mizonokuchi Station 武蔵溝ノ口駅 (of JR Nambu Line) or Mizonokuchi Station 溝の口駅 (of Tokyu Den’entoshi Line 東急田園都市線). These 2 stations are actually located in the same spot and only the names are different depending on the service operators. So, just go to either of the stations and find the bus terminal of Mizonokuchi Station to the Higashi-Takane Park. From the Park’s bus stop, walk about 200m or so to the same direction of the bus route, and on the right there is a large parking which is another entrance to the Park. Actually, the Higashi-Takane Park is in the middle of densely populated housing and commercial areas so that you don’t have to worry for public transportation any time. Perhaps, such approachability is one of the reasons for the popularity of the place. Yeah, people need a nearby forest to have a happy living in a concreted city ...

JR Kuji Station

A road in Midorigaoka Cemetery

Going down these steps to …

Higashi-Takane Forest Park

Roughly speaking, the park is prepared over 11ha of a traditional farming community existed until about 60 years ago. During the 1950s and 60s, such villages around the downtown Tokyo were massively converted into residential areas for the labor force of Megalopolis. The places of current Midorigaoka Cemetery and Higashi-Takane Park were also planned for houses and condos. When in the 1960s developers started to bulldoze the rice paddies, vegetable fields and firewood forests, they happened to discover there massive underground remains of human settlements dated back about 2500-1500 years ago. Moreover, scholars found the forest next to the cultural heritages was made of 150-200 years old large Quercus myrsinifolia (white oaks), which was already rare scenery in such a close proximity to the downtown Tokyo. Kanagawa Prefecture decided to preserve the place as a natural park, not for housing, and in 1978 Higashi-Takane Forest Park was opened. Topographically, the Park is made of a valley and a ridge (; its interactive map is here.) The valley was once rice paddies, and the largest open space along the ridge is the backfilled remains of more than 60 buildings of some 2000 years ago. During weekends, both places are filled with excited voices of families enjoying picnic. It’s a relaxing neighborhood forest in a suburb of Tokyo.

The valley that was once rice paddies is now populated by wild hygrophyte and moisture loving plants, such as Impatiens textori, Chloranthus japonicas, Mercurialis leiocarpa, Swida macrophylla, and Hydrangea macrophylla. The route has well-maintained wood decks for visitors to enjoy natural wetland. From spring to fall, there also are lots of excited kids (and their parents) equipped with a stick with a string and a bite. Illegal fishing? Er, no. The park is asking kids to catch Louisiana crawfishes and bring them to the park office. A crawfish devours water creatures, both animal and vegetable, to drive local fishes et al to extinction, and hence the National Institute for Environmental Studies designates them as one of the worst 100 invasive species in Japan. (Do you remember Gabicho last week?) It’s Higashi-Takane’s way to deal with the problem letting the kids open fully their basic instincts of fishing. During May-July of 2017, the kids reported 1948 crawfishes as their catch to the office. And in June 2018, there are crowds of kids yielding their hand-made fishing poles … It should be a very very long way to control the crawfish population here, I guess.

The former rice paddies are now this much abundant wetland.

A rich greenery of moist loving Mercurialis leiocarpa

From the valley to the ridge, there are 5 routes quickly ascending in steep slopes. The slopes and the ridge area have once-typical vegetation of Tama Hills 多摩丘陵. Coppiced Quercus acutissima and serrata are now large trees of about 50cm diameter. And, of course, there is the forest of 150-200 years’ old Quercus myrsinifolia. Typical for urban forests in Yokohama, and in Kawasaki this week, beyond the outer-ring road of the ridge is a row of houses. From Hanaki Open Space 花木広場 in the southwest of the Park, we can see busy Kawasaki IC of Tomei Express Way. A part of the ridge is a well-tended garden populated by herbaceous plants described in classic Japanese literature. If you are a student of Japanese classics, please come here in early spring or October-November to see how those flowers in poetry are actually bloom. Some of these plants are now on the verge of listing for “endangered species” so that knowing them alive, free-of-charge, would be a valuable opportunity. Soon, we reach to 1.3ha of large lawn area spreading over the pre-historic remains, surrounded by old Quercus myrsinifolia. The site is an ideal picnic ground for families some of whom pitch a tent for their mom and dad to enjoy their weekend naps. Everybody looks very relaxed under the warm watch of large old oaks … I simply imagined 2000 years ago, people lived precisely here and had similar naps for an occasional holiday. Their kids were laughing and running in exactly the same place as kids of the 21^st century … It’s good to have such a peaceful place whenever we live. Ancient or now. Another River’s Edge.

Over there, Kawasaki IC.

The Park maintained a bamboo forest,
 typical for a yester-year farming community of the area.

Ancient remains cum picnic field

The contact address for Higashi-Takane Forest Park is

2-10-1, Kamiki-honcho, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, 216-0031

〒216-0031 神奈川県川崎市宮前区神木本町2-10-1

Phone: 044-865-0801（8:30-17:00）

Email: info-hitakane@kanagawaparks.com

Freedom! On Japanese bush warbler and Chinese hwamei

Everybody loves Uguisu 鶯, Japanese bush warbler. They are sparrow-sized greenish bird whose male warbles in a pure voice. This Wikipedia description nicely summarizes their status in Japan. Yeah. When in a forest of early February we hear their “Hooo-hokekyo (the above Wikipedia entry has links to listen their warbling),” we all become Shelley and feel “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” Actually, the Japan Meteorological Agency designates warbling of Uguisu as one of the subjects in their phenological observations, signaling the end of winter. Uguisu is a sedentary bird staying all year-round in lower altitude area of Japan, as long as we provide them proper bushes and forests. Only the males sing pretty in order to declare his territory and for his female partner to nurture their chicks safely. So, normally, their songs can be heard when they are taking care of their kids. That’s that. Though, these days we can hear “Hooooooooooo-hokekyoooooooooo!!!!” really continually especially in the forests of urban area, like Yokohama Citizen Forests. Is it due to global warming that may encourage Uguisu to procreate whenever? May be … but there is another reason.

Er, no, it’s not a Japanese bush warbler,
 but a Japanese tit which also trills for territory.

There remains historical records saying that in 1708 people brought Chinese hwamei, Gabicho 画眉鳥 in Japanese, to Nagasaki 長崎出島 from Qing, aka China. Traditionally in China they are popular as middle-sized cage birds by their flashy brunette feather with distinctive eye-make and clear and brash warbling. Probably, Japanese has imported them for quite some time from China as business for the small population of aficionados. Then, during a very brief period of the 1970s, they became popular among ordinary Japanese as cage birds. Many were traded in from China of Mao Zedong. Surprisingly perhaps at that time, unlike traditional Japanese cage birds, they sing very loudly though sumptuously. The bird rapidly lost the favor of the Japanese market. Faced with a large inventory that required feeding, it is said that the importers dumped Gabicho in the forests of cities, like Tokyo or Osaka. Gabicho is originally from sub-tropical China and South-east Asia, eating seeds of grasses, insects and sometimes frogs which can be found at the ground level. It means they don’t survive snow-covered winter in some areas of Japan, but can thrive in Japanese population centers under the global warming. They multiplied near cities. The National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan defines them as one of the “100 of the Japan’s Worst Invasive Alien Species.” By the Invasive Alien Species Act, now it is prohibited to make them pets. Human state of the things aside, Gabicho is clever birds. In China, they warble as their owners teach them to please the master. They came to Japan, and perhaps found the superstar status of Uguisu as their role model. In the urban forests of Megalopolis Tokyo, they sing in the phrase of Uguisu, but far louder, and all year long. “HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOKEKYOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” There are many Gabichos and all sing like that in the forests of Yokohama, occasionally next to Uguisu of (comparatively) modest voice.

Niiharu Citizen Forest in early summer.
 Well, yeah, Gabicho likes such forest, I guess.

Telling you the truth, I didn’t know anything about the thing between Gabicho and Uguisu until I visited Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森 for a spring nature observation meeting in April 2015. That visit became the topic of my very first post of this blog, so it was a kind of memorable experience for me. At that time, all the participants of the gathering, who looked like experienced nature observers, called the warbling of very loud “HOOOOOO-HOKEKYOOOO!!!!” as something like “Oh, that so tasteless GABICHO!” with a slight snobbishness in their voice. Gabicho is a direct reading of Chinese characters in Japanese. I guess in Chinese their name would sound appropriate for a popular, flamboyant, and middle-sized bird. In Japanese, combined Ga and Bi, i.e. the continuous voiced consonants, sounds too strong to have a connotation of pretty warbling of birds. I had an impression of Gabicho as something insensitive invader-imposter to our peaceful forests. As I learned Japanese forests and the status of Gabicho in Japanese law, my impression for them could not improve.

My first visit to Niiharu Citizen Forest

Whatever, Gabicho is sometime fearless. Since last year or so, one Gabicho frequently welcomes me along my way to attend the activities of the Lovers of Niiharu Citizen Forest. (Oh, but s/he never game me a chance to take a photo!) It seems to me one tree in the forest is its favorite for weekend morning. It simply hops from a twig to a twig without warbling, perhaps searching for breakfast. I could quietly observe its morning ritual for a minute or two, and the bird flies to another place. It’s a relatively large bird, twice as large as a sparrow, so *2 for Uguisu. The bird has very bright brunette feathers and Cleopatra like large white eye-make that gave me an impression of exotics. You see? Saying hello is so important for everything. Regular encounters with a Gabicho in Niiharu Citizen Forest gave me a chance to think about them in my own words. Yeah, it may cause havocs in Japanese native biodiversity (although the theory is still speculative). But the birds didn’t come here of their own volition; they are not migratory birds. They are here because humans wanted to earn nice sum of money, and abandoned them when they found the birds did not behave as the masters liked. Still, Gabicho is singing as their former owners taught “To be a cute Uguisu!” It’s … an extremely sad story. I’ve started to wonder how a Gabicho warbles if it can be free from all of these nonsenses. Then, quite recently I find it out.

A caterpillar of Blue Admiral on Smilax china in Niiharu Citizen Forest.
 Probably it looks very appetizing for Gabicho …

One weekend in this May, Kanagawa Forest Instructors visited Hadano Pass Forestry Road 秦野峠林道 for bird–watching. If it is OK, Hadano Forestry Road connects Yadoriki Community やどりき in the foothills of Mt. Nabewari 鍋割山 with Kurokura Community 玄倉 on the shore of Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖. Unfortunately, the area has very fragile bed rocks typical of Tanzawa 丹沢, and it is now partially open due to massive slope failures. In other words, the place is very deep, less-visited mountains. We walked leisurely but attentively to find wild birds. Tanzawa in May is the place for rearing chicks. Thick green of leaves hide the singers from the eyes of predators and bird-watchers, but we could hear many kinds of birds, at least 30, warbling. We certainly identified the voice of Japanese bush warblers, cuckoos, Japanese green pheasants, Japanese flycatchers, and even Treson sieboldii. Brown-eared bulbuls and Japanese tits were everywhere, and there was another very clear and well-projected voice frequently sounds from the forests. One of my senior instructors said, “Hey, don’t you think it sings like ‘Jiyuu-ni Natte Ureshii! 自由になってうれしい！’ (in English, ‘It’s great to be free!’)? It’s Chinese hwamei.” The scales fell from my eyes.

Somewhere here in Tanzawa,
 there is a Japanese flycatcher singing …

Actually, Gabicho is not the only ubiquitous bird our grandparents brought from China. Take Chinese bamboo partridge. It was first imported as pets from southern China, and then in 1919 released wild in the forests around Tokyo for pleasure hunting. They were once commonly observed in the south of Miyagi Prefecture 宮城県, and still a popular wild bird among hunters now. Yet, I have heard whispers it has become difficult recently to find them during a bird-watching event. Too much economic development might make the dwellings for them uninhabitable, or, they simply reduced their numbers in their foreign land ... I don’t know if the frequent presence of Gabicho in such a deep mountain is a threat to the ecosystem of our National Parks. I was simply glad the relatives of Niiharu’s Gabicho could rejoice with their freedom in the wild. It’s too depressing to see somebody spellbound of his / her abusive deserter, isn’t it?

Chinese hwamei (Gabicho) in a play-garden
 near Niiharu Citizen Forest

If you find an environmental issues in Tanzawa, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657

Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/