Although the rim of Sagami Bay 相模湾 is adorned by greenery, often they are not natural vegetation. The coastline of Miura 三浦半島 and Izu 伊豆半島 Peninsulas is less intervened area, as the mountains of the peninsulas rapidly descend and dive into the bay. i.e. Not much flat area is available for humans … That would be one of the reasons in Atami City 熱海市 with massive debris flow and lots of death. In a fashionable resort city of Atami, people tried to have nice-view houses in upstream, reclaimed land by filling natural valleys, and triggered humongous collapse of the mountain … In contrast, from Zushi 逗子 to Odawara 小田原, the coastal land is relatively flat or having alluvial fan. People lived in these smooth area for millennia. The problem is, such place is easy to be eroded by Pacific Ocean. Sandy beach will bring constant mini-sandstorms on sea breeze … Worse, once tsunami comes, all could be washed away. So, people have tried to deal with the problem in one way or the other. Creating greenery along the coast is one of such traditional approach.
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| Pacific Ocean |
I told you my adventure for tending such artificially created “forests” near Tsujidoh Beach 辻堂 (; my post on October 12, 2018). They were about 60 years old with tall and lush enough pine trees sufficient to prevent sandy wind from constant ocean wind. Yeah, inside, their forest floor on sand is not much as in forests of Tanzawa 丹沢 or Hakone 箱根. We keep crossing our fingers they will sustain the ground from rising sea levels of global warming … Of course, before reaching to such working stage, any seaside protection forest must start from somewhere. Unlike for fertile land, for sandy ground to have a sustainable forest, it would be better to nurture seedlings that would stay there without disturbance of their root. i.e., People plant seeds on the shore, and nurture them patiently. Actually we can visit and enjoy such baby seaside protection forest in Oiso Town 大磯. It is called Koyurugui Greenery こゆるぎ緑地.
In 1986, following the National Trust model of the UK, Kanagawa Prefecture established trust fund to secure greenery especially in urban area of the prefecture. At the same time, the prefectural assembly established public interest incorporated foundation named Kanagawa Green Trust かながわトラストみどり財団 that raises and manages the fund. By this scheme, in 2003 Oiso Town and the Green Trust bought a sliver of ocean-facing land, 0.17ha to be exact, almost glued to the former summer house PM Saionji Kinmochi 西園寺公望 (12th and 14th PM), and later of the 14th Governor of BOJ, Ikeda Shigeaki 池田成彬 (; my post on March 25, 2021). The volunteers of Oiso Town are sowing pinecones since 2008 and tending seedlings there. Now they are pine kids standing neatly in the secured land, with nice strolling path for human visitors.
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| The strolling path for Koyurugui Greenery |
The access to Koyurugui Greenery is easy. First, please go to the residence of the final Crown Prince of Korean Empire, Prince Yi Un 李垠, which is now currently undergoing complete reconstruction (; my post on March 24, 2021). At the corner of the west-most part of Crown Prince’s place, there is a small way from National Route 1 国道1号線. The entrance part of this small road is the gate for PM Saionji’s summer house, but the alley itself is sneaking further to the sea and Seisho Bypass Motor Way 西湘バイパス. Please take this. It’s slightly going up, and at the “peak” of this sandy hill on our right, there is small steps with a sign saying “Koyurugui Greenery.” Welcome to the kindergarten of black pines.
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| Please turn left here. |
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| Then,
we see this former summer house for PM Saionji on our right. |
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| Please just go straight. |
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| Here it is. The sign post. |
The “forest” of black pine kids is spreading along Seisho Bypass Motor Way but we can see the Pacific Ocean beyond the toll road. It is a very bright forest, almost an oxymoron of forests in Kanagawa. As trees are 2-3 meters high at a max, and 10 or so centimeters in diameter at the fattest, there is no imposing atmosphere whatsoever from the pines. The forest floor is the same as the sandy beach so that we cannot find much undergrowth. A pedestrian route runs flat in the middle of the forest, demarcated at around 50cm high ropes. It’s almost a garden, and a quiet place. The strolling path has stools here and there so that we can relax in this well-lit forest with tea in hand, gazing blankly the Pacific Ocean over there … Although the trees are still young, they bear lots of pinecones. Many of them are rolling around the sunny forest floor. The trees look healthy and fine. Yeah, it’s a nice kindergarten!
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| Pacific Ocean over there |
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| Sturdy stools |
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| Healthy kids! |
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| The other side of the entrance |
The pedestrian way of Koyurugui Greenery runs on the ridge of sandy hill. The Greenery itself is rapidly descending to Seisho Bypass. Between the motorway and the forest, there is a pedestrian/cyclist route running along the Seisho Bypass. It’s a part of Pacific Cycling Road of Japan, running from Chiba Prefecture 千葉県 to Wakayama Prefecture 和歌山県 to Osaka 大阪. For Oiso Part, the beginning is at Oiso Fishing Port 大磯漁港 where we can borrow a bike for in-town usage. Last spring, the town opened a new café in the port where we can enjoy fresh catch of the day for nice lunch. Instead of entering Koyurugui Greenery from National Meiji Memorial Garden 明治記念大磯邸園, you can walk/ride from the Fishing Port along the Pacific Cycling Road, with packed lunch purchased in the port. Anyway, this summer, the Oiso Town again decided to close Oiso Northshore 大磯北浜 due to COVID-19. It might give us a chance to enjoy less-congested ocean side of Oiso Town in summer … (Whoops, the Town recommends “Not to Come!”)
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| Pacific Cycling Road |
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| The Café in Oiso Port |
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| If it
had been fine, we could have admired Mt. Fuji beyond Hakone mountains … |
Oiso Town Hall 大磯町役場
183 Higashikoiso, Oiso-cho, Naka-gun, Kanagawa, 255-8555
〒255-8555 神奈川県中郡大磯町東小磯183
Phone: 0463-61-4100
Fax: 0463-61-1991
http://www.town.oiso.kanagawa.jp/isotabi/index.html http://www.town.oiso.kanagawa.jp/oisomuseum/index.html
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