It might be a matter of taste, but people often say rainy days are depressing. Yeah, we need fine weather to be uplifted … or do we? I personally think forests of wet season are very attractive. Uplifting? Don’t know. But they are certainly therapeutic. During Baiu 梅雨, the time of rain from June to July in Kanagawa Prefecture, the trees are receiving rain drops almost daily. The forests show fresh greens washed frequently by showers. Still the plants develop their leaves to catch energy from sun. Soon, they’ll be ready for glaring sunshine of late July till mid-September. They are waiting. They look so pure.
For me, forests in Kanagawa during Baiu are good place to be meditative. The exquisiteness of fresh emerald surrounds us with infinite variation of hues. From canopy, sometimes we receive fluttering ray of sunshine that can be quickly replaced by water drops with the smell of leaves. Thanks to the weather, not much noise from human activity arises. Chirps of birds sound clearer without much car exhaust. Several ornithologists taught to us forest instructors birds love rainy days as fewer predators, humans included, are active. In Niiharu 新治, it’s easier to enjoy bird songs this time of year with little sonic distraction from surrounding housings. In Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林, the echo of Yadoriki Stream 寄沢 quietly fills mountains where fewer hikers come. Wherever, some plants emit their fragrance more when they breathe air of higher humidity. Touching carpets of wet moss, I find they are really soft … If you’re lucky to meet with green fruits of Japanese pepper (山椒 Zanthoxylum piperitum), you can try your fifth sense with their peppery and citrusy taste. We can entertain our 5 senses in the forests during Baiu time. Amazing.
 |
| A couple of brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) |
 |
| The first Tricyrtis flower for Niiharu this year |
Recently, I’ve been to an installation by teamLab in Tokyo, near Olympics’ Village (under construction). It seems to me they tried to create synthetically an experience walking in a forest with “streams” and “ponds.” OK. I got it. Though, going up barefoot along artificial river running over soft synthetic floor cannot match with my memory of walking along pure Yadoriki Stream. Sure, losing my way in a room of floating balloons was dreamy experience, and we can enjoy occasional fragrance of lavender in their dark narrow corridor. But sensation we can receive from the in-betweens of leaves and branches in Niiharu’s deep forest was more pensive with purified smells of fresh greens. It was certainly mesmerizing looking up projection of decaying flowers created by AI and signals from our cellphones. But finding flowers of spotted bellflower (Campanula punctate) or Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea Subsp. Grandis) in raining open air is far more comfortable … Can we ever create such delicate color coordination of Saururus chinensis with computer programs?
 |
| Floating balloons of synthetic world |
 |
| Spotted bellflower (Campanula punctate) |
 |
| Buds
of flowers for kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobate) |
 |
| Saururus chinensis |
I love walking in forests during rainy season. … Oh by the way, the average date for summer period of rain to end is July 21st. Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts 2019 is a normal year in this regard. 2 more weeks to go, then. 😄
If you find an environmental issues
in Kanagawa Prefecture, 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
No comments:
Post a Comment