These
several years City of Yokohama opens one new Citizen Forest per year. This year
the newest addition to Yokohama’s Citizen Forest family is Furuhashi CitizenForest 古橋市民の森, inaugurated in March 2019. It has about 2.2ha
located in Izumi Ward 泉区. The Ward is an area along Sakai River 境川 that makes a border with Fujisawa City. Yokohama is a port city with lots of small but steep hills. Fujisawa is
on relatively flat Sagamihara Plateau ending with sandy beaches good for
surfing. Actually, Furuhashi Forest is in a walking distance (about 1.5k) from the
center of Shonan’dai 湘南台 town in Fujisawa. So, compared
with the other Citizen Forests of Yokohama, Furuhashi Forest is flatter. It has
a large open space in its entrance facing to a kindergarten. It’s small, but a
nice place for weekend picnic with your toddler in a stroller. I mean, if it’s
possible now. Unfortunately, Typhoons Faxai and Hagibis brought havocs. We have
to wait until the City cleans up the mess. Let me explain.
To
visit Furuhashi Forest, the nearest public transportation points are Shimoiida Station 下飯田駅 of Yokohama City Subway (Green Line), or Yumegaoka Station ゆめが丘駅 of Sotetsu Izumino Line. I don’t think the City has a plan for
parking spaces to the Forest. When you leave whichever station, you would think
“Gosh, there is NOTHING!” Yeah. It seems to me the area is currently under
construction by developers, perhaps for housings, and the land around the stations
are bare and flat. The first thing you can see from the station may be a large
blue sign to the northeast saying “Subaru,” showing the location of Kanagawa Subaru Izumi Shop. Although it’s not the only way to go to the Forest, walking
towards Subaru would be the easiest for us to move. Please go to the familiar
Pleiades log over there, and find a road running towards east from the north
side of Subaru’s block. Take this road straight, and we’ll meet a small and
pleasant Izumi River 和泉川.
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Er,
well, nothing.
The scenery from Sotetsu Yumegaoka Station.
Could you figure out
Mt. Fuji on the left of (smaller) transmission tower?
The buildings over there are
for Shonan’dai of Fujisawa. |
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| The
exit of Yumegaoka Station |
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| Shimoiida
Station |
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Could
you see Pleiades on our right, over there?
It’s the scene from Shimoiida
Station. |
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| From
Yumegaoka Station, Subaru Shop is nearer. |
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Cross
this traffic light named Yumegaoka Station Entrance,
below Sotetsu Line viaduct
… |
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| On our
right is Subaru Shop. |
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| Walk
this way straight down, please. |
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| We’re in
front of the entrance for the promenade of Izumi River. |
Do you
remember when we visited last year Kamikawai Citizen Forest 上川井市民の森, there were several spots water seeping out?
That’s the source of Izumi River, and water comes here before merging to Sakai
River. Especially the point we’ve come today has a well-maintained pedestrian
road on the riverbank. From autumn to spring, we can regularly meet here
mallards and the other migratory water birds. This is a place for petit bird
watching. 😀 On the left for the road coming from Subaru, there
is a small bridge to cross the river. Take this one and walk straight to meet
with a T-crossing. Turn left here. Soon there is a Y-crossing. Turn right which
is a slope going up. This road itself is dead-ended, but on your left you can
find a small but well-paved farm road running the back of a nursing home for
senior citizens. Dive into this route, and we’re now walking along a relaxing
way surrounded by veggie field. Next, turn right at the first corner which is
the road goes along the row of ordinary detached houses of Yokohama. Keep on
going straight until you’ll find a crossing with relatively wider road (yes, “relatively”).
Turn right here and we soon cross tiny two bridges over miniscule streams.
Maybe, this area was once completely a farmland with small rivulets for
irrigation … the road goes up a bit again. Go straight and turn right at the 5th
corner. You may find on your left there is a campus for Izumigaoka Kindergarten
泉ヶ丘幼稚園. Well, Furuhashi Citizen Forest is in front of
this Kindergarten.
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| Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,
nice place! |
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Indian
spot-billed ducks, resident bird for Yokohama.
When I’ve been there, I think I
had a near-miss with a mallard
… no photo. Sorry. |
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| On our
left, there is this bridge. Please cross it. |
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| This
way, please, to find … |
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| a
T-crossing. Please turn left here. |
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Next, a
Y-crossing.
The road with the red car is our route for today. |
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| We go
up and … |
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| To meet
with a farm road on our left. |
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| It’s a
meandering small road between veggie fields … |
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| Turn
right here, then soon |
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Turn
left here.
If you don’t and go straight, you’ll end up with a cul-de-sac. |
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| After turning left, please go
straight. |
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Ahead
is a crossing with a “relatively” wider road.
Please turn right over there, |
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to slowly
climb up this slope.
Could you see smallish parapets ahead of us? |
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| They
are for us to cross these creeks. |
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| The
fifth corner is like this. Turn right here. |
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| Those
trees on our right are for Furuhashi Forest. |
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| Seeing
the kindergarten from the Forest. |
First
thing we notice is, at the entrance this Forest has a very wide open-space,
called Fureai Hiroba ふれあい広場. I guess kids from the kindergarten use regularly
the place to play. Second, right now there are several utility vehicles, such
as bulldozers, situated in the open space and the beyond. The walking route of
Furuhashi Forest starts from Fureai Hiroba, circulates in the forest and returns
to the open-space. i.e. There are two entrances from Fureai Hiroba for the trekking
route of the forest. We can just enter one of them, and come out from the
another. Both of the entrances are for a road going down slowly. One of them on
the north is biforked soon in the forest. To the left is shorter route running
down along a small stream to join at the bottom of the forest with the route
departed some 50m back. Though, especially this branched route is currently off-limit
for visitors due to mini-landslides and many fallen trees, some of which are
uprooted. One day, I’ve heard a lamentation from members of Lovers of Furuhashi
Citizen Forest. “We were in high spirits with our new Citizen Forest till
summer. But now, this … Anyway, we’ll do our best for the forest to welcome
kids again!”
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| Welcome
to Furuhashi Citizen Forest! |
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| The
map for Furuhashi Forest. |
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| Fureai
Hiroba open-space with utility vehicles … |
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The
forest has several picnic benches and chairs.
This one is in Fureai Hiroba. |
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A peek
in the forest from the open-space. Lots of logs down there
… strange scenery
for a forest open for strolling.
It means many trees were fallen by the
typhoons. |
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Hmmmmmmmmmm.
The aftermath of devastation.
This road is supposed to slope down leisurely
along the stream.
Needless to say, this is off-limit area for visitors. |
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| Wow. |
Indeed.
The route within the forest is a petit trekking way which would be good for
kindergarteners to experience roads in a forest. They are wide-enough and the
City provided nice steps for newcomers of such road to try. The small stream
gathers water at the lowest part of the Forest. It becomes a miniscule pond. We
can observe wild creatures swimming there from a wooden deck provided over it.
The pool is home for many creatures, like Parachauliodes japonicus
(Japanese endemic), Japanese freshwater crabs (Japanese endemic), freshwater
pea clams, and nymphs of Golden-ringed dragonfly. They are indicator species
for “very good” water quality. It’s amazing to find such place right next to
ordinary housing district of a large City … The water goes down further from
the pond to merge with the small creeks we crossed. The brooks soon become one
with Izumi River, which explains why migratory birds come to Izumi River every
fall. It’s a pity now the majority of Furuhashi Citizen Forest is closed-off
due to the devastation by the typhoons. But before long, I hope the place will
be open again for the public. It shall be a lovely place for kids to play with
dragonflies every summer. We have to be patient for now …
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| If we
take the right road from the Y-crossing, it goes up slowly, |
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| Nice,
don’t you think? |
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It
then slowly goes down to meet with the road along the stream.
From here, we can
see Yokohama Subway trains coming and going. |
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| Look!
Observation deck! |
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| The
home for water creatures … |
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| Going
up again to |
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Return
to Fureai Hiroba.
Hours for total itinerary: 10 minutes. |
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At the
edge of the open-space,
there is another scenery of havoc … |
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To
return to the station,
we can just go back to the road we come,
and proceed
further to the same direction. |
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| A crossing.
Please go straight to go down. |
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The
road slowly curves at the bottom;
please follow the road, and |
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| We see
the creeks again. |
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| Further
straight to reunite with Izumi River. |
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| Cross
the river to |
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| Turn left.
The road slowly goes up again. |
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Eventually,
we meet with this signpost,
saying “Shimoiida Station, this way, 300m.” |
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| The
shortcut for the stations climbs up … |
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to the
road over there,
which is the one running in front of Subaru Shop. |
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The
survived trees in Furuhashi Forest …
Yeah, they are too large for a Satoyama forest.
(A sign the place was once neglected long enough …)
No wonder many of them were
vulnerable to storms. |
If you find a problem in Furuhashi
Citizen Forest, 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
