Under Construction (unintentionally): Furuhashi Citizen Forest 古橋市民の森

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.

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.

The exit of Yumegaoka Station

Shimoiida Station

Could you see Pleiades on our right, over there?
 It’s the scene from Shimoiida Station.

From Yumegaoka Station, Subaru Shop is nearer.

Cross this traffic light named Yumegaoka Station Entrance,
 below Sotetsu Line viaduct …

On our right is Subaru Shop.

Walk this way straight down, please.

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 5^th 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.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, nice place!

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.

On our left, there is this bridge. Please cross it.

This way, please, to find …

a T-crossing. Please turn left here.

Next, a Y-crossing.
 The road with the red car is our route for today.

We go up and …

To meet with a farm road on our left.

It’s a meandering small road between veggie fields …

Turn right here, then soon

Turn left here.
 If you don’t and go straight, you’ll end up with a cul-de-sac.

 After turning left, please go straight.

Ahead is a crossing with a “relatively” wider road.
 Please turn right over there,

to slowly climb up this slope.
 Could you see smallish parapets ahead of us?

They are for us to cross these creeks.

The fifth corner is like this. Turn right here.

Those trees on our right are for Furuhashi Forest.

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!”

Welcome to Furuhashi Citizen Forest!

The map for Furuhashi Forest.

Fureai Hiroba open-space with utility vehicles …

The forest has several picnic benches and chairs.
 This one is in Fureai Hiroba.

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.

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.

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 …

If we take the right road from the Y-crossing, it goes up slowly,

Nice, don’t you think?

It then slowly goes down to meet with the road along the stream.
 From here, we can see Yokohama Subway trains coming and going.

Look! Observation deck!

The home for water creatures …

Going up again to

Return to Fureai Hiroba.
 Hours for total itinerary: 10 minutes.

At the edge of the open-space,
 there is another scenery of havoc …

To return to the station,
 we can just go back to the road we come,
 and proceed further to the same direction.

We walk along the campus of Izumigaoka Junior-High 泉が丘中学校,
 to meet with

A crossing. Please go straight to go down.

The road slowly curves at the bottom;
 please follow the road, and

We see the creeks again.

Further straight to reunite with Izumi River.

Cross the river to

Turn left. The road slowly goes up again.

Eventually, we meet with this signpost,
 saying “Shimoiida Station, this way, 300m.”

The shortcut for the stations climbs up …

to the road over there,
 which is the one running in front of Subaru Shop.

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