Mushrooms in a sanctuary: studying fungi in the forest of Hakone Soun-ji Temple 箱根早雲公園

Hakone is a resort town. Its gateway is Hakone Yumoto community箱根湯本 that has the terminal train station, Hakone-yumoto, for a direct Odakyu service from Shinjuku. The place has lots of spas, restaurants, souvenir shops, et al. Town Hall of Hakone is also there. The area has been for more than millennium an important base for travelers passing Hakone mountains. As such, the Hojo Clan 北条氏 for the Lord of Odawara Castle built in 1521 their family temple there. It is Soun-ji Temple 早雲寺 of zen school. If it is a normal year, their treasures, including a National Treasures and several National Important Cultural Properties, will be shown for public in early November. In 2020, COVID-19 deprives such festivals from us. Though, I happened to have a chance to enter the forest of the Temple recently. It was for mushrooms.

Hakone Yumoto Station

To Sounji, please cross the Haya River from the Station.

The other side of the river is Hakone Yumoto Fujiya Hotel.
 Please go round the hotel to the direction of Hakone Town Hall.

Soon, we meet the Town Hall.

This is a tricky part.
 Please find steps next to the main entrance for the Town Hall.
 It’s a shortcut to Soun-ji Temple.

This signpost will appear soon.
Follow the direction until …

Turn right here and go straight to the Temple.

Soun-ji Temple on our right.
 It’s their back which is a parking for the staff.

Soun-ji Temple, Main Entrance

Japanese old temples and shrines had a vast territory before. In the 21^st century, not many has kept their property in the form of former glory. Still, some have maintained forest that secludes sanctuary from the daily humdrum. It is called Jisha-rin寺社林, the forest of temple and/or shrine. As Japanese Shintoism is animism that recognizes deity in every part of nature, heavy human intervention to a shrine’s forest is sacrilegious, at least to some extent, even in the 21^st century. For Japanese Buddhist temples, imported Mahayana Buddhism incorporated the “native feeling” of Shintoism, and often preach “the existence of Buddha in all the tiny creatures of forest of mandala.” Temple forest is also a sort of refuge from modern destructions. The forest of Soun-ji Temple is one of such places. It certainly has trekking paths for locals to visit the temple. But the intervention is kept minimum. No café, or vending machines for drinks in this tourists-heavy neighbors. Not only that, almost 2/3 of the forest is off limit since 1978. Kanagawa Prefecture designated the forest as Natural Monument for its ancient vegetation, and Euterpnosia chibensis, a tiny cicada that is on the Red Book for endangered species in Kanagawa. The insect makes the forest of Soun-ji their home, the only home for them in Kanagawa.

A map for the forest of Soun-ji Temple.

This is the road coming from Fujiya Hotel.
 This is oneway route and no detour is allowed;
 could you see the yellow tapes there?

The highest point of the route has this gazebo.

The main entrance to the forest itself is basically locked.

Even though, researches and education in the forest are allowed with permit. One day this fall, I joined an educational expedition to the forest of Soun-ji Temple, organized by Prefectural Museum of Natural History. It was to learn and hunt mushrooms in forest. The place is about 130m ASL, populated by large broad-leaved trees including many Quercus salicina. Hakone is a place of lots of rain. The floor of minimum disturbance in humid broad-leaved forest is a good place for fungi. Dr. Takamichi Orihara for the Museum led us to enter such an interesting place to observe mushrooms.

This is an “almost” natural forest of Soun-ji Temple.

Rich forest floor.
The off-limit area maintains the road constructed before 1978.

According to Dr. Orihara, as of 2014, the estimated number of fungi species we have on the planet is roughly 6 million. Out of these, the identified fungi are about 140 thousand. So, we don’t know which is which for the remaining 98% on earth. Corollary: we can encounter “novel species” VERY easily when we do field research for mushrooms. “Er, please do not trust reference books. Nowadays, DNA testing is casually negating the identification of a 2015 book to rewrite classification. We are in very exciting time to study fungi. You may be recorded as a first identifier for a new species and remembered in a history!” I also learned the difference between shiitake mushroom and truffle is like the relationship between humans and sea urchin, taxonomy-wise. Wooooooooow. The spongy forest floor of Soun-ji has several endemic fungi found only in Kanagawa, or Hakone. Many of us found Tylopilus fuligineoviolaceus that is almost endemic in Kanagawa. Elegant white of Amanita verna is true to its nickname, “Killing Angel.” It was a quiet, but exciting hunting in a forest of drizzled rain. The world of fungi is really mesmerizing ...

Lots of mushrooms!

These white something is fungi.
 When it accumulates enough energy
 to have a large sexual organ,
 the place sprouts mushrooms.

Hi there.

These were what we collected in less than one hour.

I have heard several years ago, in Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森, Calvatia nipponica sprouted. Then-chairperson of Niiharu Lovers, Mr. Heihachi Nakamaru, became suddenly busy to attend the news reporters and scholars to introduce the mushroom.  Mr. Nakamaru is now 94 years old, spending his day with a wheelchair in his house next to Niiharu Forest. He fondly remembers that fuss for giant mushrooms, and giggles when he talks the story. There was a young businessman who heard the news and visited Niiharu Forest to see gigantic white balls of Calvatia nipponica. He was shocked. He became almost obsessed to study the world of fungi when he’s off from his office. He is now the leader of Yokohama branch for Kanagawa Fungi Society. He and his group are having regular study meetings for mushrooms in Niiharu Forest. He’s collaborating with Dr. Orihara and Prefectural Museum for fungi research. You see? There is something magical in mushrooms. It can change somebody’s life … 

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) in Niiharu

If you find 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

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

Promising Start: Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest 長津田宿市民の森

The City of Yokohama opens one new Citizen Forest per year these days. Admitting its size is getting smaller, I think it is something we try to preserve our greenery in the megalopolis Tokyo. Fiscal 2020 is the turn for Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest that 長津田宿市民の森 is near JR/Tokyu Nagatsuda Station JR/東急 長津田駅. It opened to the public on April 1^st, this year. Let’s have a look of the place.

The access to the forest is easy. Please leave Nagatsuda Station from its south exit. When we come out, on our right is an office building for JA Yokohama. Please pass in front of it, and turn right at its corner. It’s an alley way running along the tracks of JR and Tokyu. Walking for 5 minutes or so along the busy train services, our road becomes a slope. Please keep going until you find a “peak” in front of you, and another slope on your left, at the corner of Konpirajinja Yasaka Shrine 金毘羅神社八坂神社. Whichever slope you take, we can reach to the Forest, but today let’s take the left one that is going to the back entrance to Nagatsuda Elementary 長津田小学校. In 20m or so, the slope reaches to its peak (and the entrance to Nagatsuda Elementary). On your right is a small unpaved trekking road which runs along the school building. Please take this one, and soon you’ll see the signpost saying ”Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest.”

The south exit of Nagatsuda Station

Please take this road shown by the arrow.
 Oh, this branch of JA Yokohama does
 a small farmers’ market from 14:00
 every Tuesday and Friday.
 Young farmers of the area bring their fresh produce
 for a reasonable price.

The road turning at the corner of JA is like this.
 Adelante, por favor.

We can see the “peak” over there.

Let’s take the left road.
 Could you see red painting over there?
 It’s the back entrance to Nagatsuda Elementary.
 The forest on our right is for the Shrine.

At the Elementary, there is this signpost
 showing us the direction to the Forest.

This road eventually becomes like this …

to here,
 the entrance to Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest.

The structure of the strolling route for the 3 ha Forest is damned simple (; map, here). There is the central road going from the southwest to the north east of the Forest. The northeastern exit is where we’ve reached from Nagatsuda Station. There are 3 short sideways that allow us to experience inside of the Forest. As for the main road for Tsunashima Citizen Forest (; my post on June 26, 2015), it seems to me, the central road running the Forest is a commuter road that is a shortcut to Nagatsuda Station. So, lots of locals are coming and going through the forest. The central road is a ridge way and the Citizen Forest mainly expands to the north slope of a hill. Area-wise, roughly, bottom 1/2 of the hill is off-limit for casual visitors since it is designated as a nature conservation area.

The main way

We can easily recognize
 where the sideways go from the center road.
 The Forest has these picnic benches.

Off-limit areas are fenced.

It’s easy to walk Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest. We go the main road and take sideways as we like. All the sideways are visible from the arterial now, because the mowing and thinning were done just recently. It’s easy to spot small plants here and there on the forest floor. The Forest is a baby as a Citizen Forest, and so the management of the place is still at the beginning. I think the place has a potential to show us the type of ecosystem typical for Tama Hills, eventually. Roughly 4/5 of Nagatsuda Forest is facing to the north. Possible natural ecosystem here could be for north-facing slope of Tama Hills 多摩丘陵. Mr. Hideshige Uchino 内野秀重, the director of Nagaike Park for Hachioji City 八王子市立長池公園, Tokyo, once told us north-facing slope with natural vegetation these days is not so common for Tama Hills due to heavy housing development. We may find natural characteristics for north-facing hillside of Tama Hills in Nagatsuda-shuku Forest in few years.

On a new stump,
 there came lots of wood ears (Auricularia auricula-judae).

The Forest had a small colony of Tricyrtis hirta.
 Please treat them carefully …

Tama Hills lie on a sort of ecological border between northern and southern Japanese vegetation. The strikingly clear-cut frontier is the approach to Yakuo-in Temple of Mt. Takao 高尾山薬王院 (; my post on December 22, 2017) where northwest slope consists of deciduous broadleaved trees and southeast is for evergreen broadleaved trees. Warm air from the Pacific Ocean and chilly winds from Siberia hit the bumps of Tama Hills and create a mosaic of wood zones. Not only trees, but also forest floors can show this complexity, especially in the forests of northern Tama Hills. Secretly known unique ecosystem for north-facing slope of Tama Hills is in my beloved Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森. Although it’s not so striking as for Mt. Takao, north-facing slopes of Niiharu tend to have plants that incline to colder soil, such as western bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum). Nagatsuda-shuku Forest can also be a good exhibit of Tama Hills, I expect, because of its direction.

Pretty flowers of Oplismenus undulatifolius

Their Agrimonia Pilosa var. japónica is large.

When you leave from the Forest, you can take the left road which is paved, that will lead us to the small peak we saw when we came from Nagatsuda Station. This route goes through a small community that I guess was for landlords of Nagatsuda-shuku Forest. Beyond the rail tracks, we can see rolling hills of housings typical for Tokyo’s suburbia. Before, the area was of forests and grassland suitable for exercise of Japanese Imperial Army. In the shrine we passed to enter the Forest, there is a large monument commemorating Crown Prince Hirohito 裕仁 (Emperor Showa 昭和天皇) observed almost a century ago a massive drill. The reason why the forest has a name with “Shuku 宿” is, the community spreading south of the Forest was a post town for Oyama Street 大山街道, once popular among pilgrims from Edo (Tokyo) to Mt. Oyama 大山 (; my post on March 17, 2017). Actually, Nagatsuda area has several historical remnants typical for Japanese villages near the capital city Edo. If you live near there, you can explore the memory of village-suburbia life of Japan centuries ago. Here is a walking map you may be interested. These days such “Exploring Our Neighbor” walk is uber popular in Yokohama. Reason? COVID-19, of course. It may be safer in open air than in crowded shopping center, isn’t it?

The left road is going down.
 The forest on our right is also a part of
 Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest,
 but it is off-limit for visitors.

Some trees in the closed area of the Citizen Forest are
 observable from the road.
 This is a pretty Euonymus hamiltonianus Wall.

I’ve found a large colony of
 Juniper haircap moss (Polytrichum juniperinum)!

The monument commemorating the Crown Prince.

Hmmmmmmm … typical suburbia …

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

If you find 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

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

Flower arrangement with living cedars: Pruning in Hakone 箱根

Hakone Sengokubara 仙石原

Last year’s monster typhoons threw Hakone 箱根 into a mess. Lake Ashinoko 芦ノ湖 overflew. Town’s roads system was destroyed by landslides. Railroads lost their tracks with collapsed mountain slopes … One year has passed since then. Fortunately (or not), according to this analysis, Japanese have accumulated the know-how to swiftly deal with such problems. The transportation system in Hakone has restarted its normalcy this July, 3 months earlier than the original schedule. Recently, I’ve been there. Yeah, in spite of the COVID-things, Hakone is resuming its tourism business. Traffic congestions were here and there. Impressive.

Fukuzumiro 福住楼,
 one of traditional Japanese hot-spa inns in Hakone

Though, the effect of Japanese oak tree wilt (; my post on August 23, 2019) is remaining in Hakone. The area was the first in Kanagawa Prefecture where we noticed the dying trees, some 3 or 4 years ago. Several mountain slopes in Hakone are now covered with desiccated brown patches that are definitely-not autumn leaves. Sad. Despite of ferocious typhoon winds last year, those dead trees keep on standing … It is remarkable, certainly. But, how long will it take for Hakone to recover mountains covered with healthy greens? I wonder.

The restored train operation,
 and unrestored mountain with oak tree wilt
 in Hakone

Hakone is also seeing the problems of overpopulated Shika deer. Tanzawa 丹沢, Hakone’s eastern neighbor, is having this problem for years. When we enter Tanzawa mountains we must cover our foot against vampire leeches carried by deer population (; my post on 14 July 2017). Shizuoka Prefecture 静岡県, the western neighbor of Hakone, also having the issues with the animal. Hakone has spared such challenges so far, but it could be a matter of time if its adjacent areas are full of deer (; my post on 21 July 2017). Actually, when we mow the forest floor in Hakone, saplings and young trees are often become lunch for hungry deer. As the place is the National Park, the authorities are more alarmed if such popular tourist destination having bold mountains and pestering vampire worms as her neighbors.

Lunch for deer

So, one day when we pruned the boughs of young pollen-free cedars (my post on December 16, 2016), the Prefectural office asked forest instructors to have a novel measure to protect the trees. Trees can withstand a bit of bites on their body, but once stripping of their skin becomes substantial enough, it dies. Voracious deer don’t care if a forest is dying due to their eating habit. So it comes the novel way to protect the young trees. We covered the foot of pruned cedars with its removed boughs, just like wearing skirts. Our intention was, by protecting trunks of young trees, deer cannot gnaw barks of the forest. “You see? Christmas wraths made of cedars keep its green for at least 2 years. The protection we made today would last for some time. Trees can grow stronger meanwhile.” I see. “You try to have a viewpoint of hungry deer. They come here and try to chew the vegetation within the reach of their mouth.” I imagined myself entering the forest on all fours and extending my neck to have a lunch. “Well, this lower space looks appetizing.” i.e. We had to cover that part. We fastened the branches leaned on a trunk by tying them with a longer cedar bough. They were flexible enough to be a securing band. “We cannot do this with cypress, you know.” It was a fun operation. We were becoming more artistic to make an interesting barrier around the trunks. It was like doing a flower arrangement in a forest.

Cedars wearing skirts

This installation is figurative,
 don’t you think?

We don’t know if our approach is effective to protect the forest from insatiable herds of deer. In any case, something is happening for forests of Japan. This fall, we’ve heard so many news about hungry wild animals, like deer, serow, bear, boar, … wondering into human settlement for food. It’s rainy fall this year. Winter is approaching …

If you find 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

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