Adventure in Yokohama Citizen Forest: Maze Game: Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest 今井境木市民の森

This week, I tell you the newest born baby Citizen Forest. It’s Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest 今井境木市民の森. The forest is about 2km south of our last week’s destination, Carlit Forest. The place is opened on April 1st, 2022. Baby Shower! It has only 2.7 ha and a simple strolling path. Below is, probably, the only map of the Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest available online as of May 2002.

The map of Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest.
The square dotted line in the middle of green
is the path for the Forest.
The rest is nature preservation area without access.

OK. You may think it’s a piece of cake to conquer the Forest. Well, don’t underestimate something looks easy wherever you are on this planet, especially now after February 24, 2022! Let me explain.

The Forest is spreading east of the Circular Road #2 (Kan-2 環状2号; my post last week). It starts from the “corner” where Kan-2 crosses Yokohama-shindoh (横浜新道 Yokohama New Road, E83), the major bypass in Yokohama for National Route 1. The area around Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest is toll road for Yokohama Shindoh. i.e. you have to pay to use the motorway, and no pedestrian or biker is allowed. The crossing between Yokohama Shindoh and Kan-2 is an interchange called Imai IC. It sounds like we can go to Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest by car easily, doesn’t it? NOPE. The Forest does not have parking space, and the east of the place is Yokohama’s suburbia where curbside parking is illegal. So the access to the Forest is only by public transportation.

Looking Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest from Kan-2,
on our right. We want to go there!

You can walk for about half an hour from JR Higashi-Totsuka Station to the place or take commuter bus Asahi6 旭6 service connecting JR Higashi-Totsuka Station 東戸塚 West Exit (timetable here) and Sotetsu Futamatagawa Station 二俣川 South Exit (timetable here). Please get off the bus at Yokohama Golf-joh Shita Stop 横浜ゴルフ場下. Hmmm, yeah, we go northwest from Imai IC to enter Yokohama Country Club (; my post on May 22, 2015). The moniker of the bus stop is not incorrect … though when we reach there the only vista we can find is a gigantic crisscrossing of motorways. Beyond huge concrete bridges, there are greeneries to the north and to the east. Which way to go? This is the beginning of finding the way in the maze for reaching to the Citizen Forest.

Yokohama Golf-joh Shita Stop 横浜ゴルフ場下
for you coming from JR Higashi-Totsuka Station.

The scenery from bus stop is like this.

To and from the Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest there are two directions from Yokohama Golf-joh-shita Stop. Whichever way you take, it’s like a maze. I tell you more maze-like beginning to approach to the Forest. When you get off the bus, please face the direction to Imai IC. There is a traffic light just before a road enters to the toll way. At that traffic light there is a slope for pedestrians to cross the Imai IC. Let’s go up and enter a huge bridge system crisscrossing above and below the toll road. There is no direction for helping us to the Forest, but just keep on going to the direction of greenery that was seen in the northeast from the bus stop. The bridge goes round and turn left and right just like a maze, but it’s one way so that as long as we keep our eye to the forest, we cannot lose the way completely. Eventually, down on our left, the entrance to the Citizen Forest comes to our sight. Simply concentrating to reach to the place, we zigzag the slope, and finally, the goal! Welcome to Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest.

The entrance to Imai IC

Please go up this slope.

After we climb up the slope, we walk that bridge in this photo.

This way,

and that way.

Anyway, it’s one way, for sure.

Our destination!

We go down the bridge …

Nearly there … Adelante …

Goal! The entrance to Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest

Probably, there is a simple reason why the Forest has only one path. It goes along the embankment slope of Kan-2 arterial road. Most of the place has steep incline with lots of trees and undergrowth. I guess the greenery has been preserved just for absorbing noise and exhaust of incessant traffic for the residence beyond the Forest. Very opportunistic existence … Even though, when I’ve been there lots of Ivela auripes hatched from pupa clung to giant dogwoods. They danced delicately with background music of violent engine noise. Maybe, this baby Citizen Forest is something to show us the resilience of nature even it is intimidated by thunderous approaches of red Porsche ... It won’t take more than 10 minutes from the motorway side of the entrance to reach to the ridgeway/residential area entrance of the Forest. The vista from the open space on the ridge way is busy motorways immediately below, then Yokohama’s suburbia, and beyond is Tanzawa Mountains 丹沢 and probably Mt. Fuji if it is a fine day.

A newly opened road in the Forest

When I’ve been there, a kid tried to catch Ivela auripes.

Weigela decora are newly planted on the slope.

Ridge way entrance to the Citizen Forest on our left.

Exactly speaking, the ridge way for the Forest is not a part of Citizen Forest, but a part of Sakaigi Park 境木公園. Sakaigi Park is spreading east of the hill protecting the residential area from the hubbub of arterial roads. So, in terms of ecological characteristics, it is a continuation of Imai-Sakaigi Citizen Forest. But! Commuting between the Citizen Forest and the Park is also like a maze. Yeah, we can just walk a small road of ridgeway to the north, and eventually we hit the residential road that lead us to the central open space of Sakaigi Park. If we continue walking the residential road it ends at the ridgeway entrance of Citizen Forest. Easy. But, if we cross the open space of the Park and try to shortcut the way to the Citizen Forest … Maze. There are three steps in front of us. We have to choose only one to reach to the top … Alice in Wonderland! Please try and find the right answer for returning to the Citizen Forest. 😉

From the ridgeway entrance to the Citizen Forest,
the road to the north goes like this,

and it turns into this …

reaching to the residential area.

Take the commuter road of the suburbia to the south …

and we reach to the open space for Sakaigi Park.

There are several steps going up from the open space.
We have to choose just one.
The rest ends at a dead end.

The correct one leads us to this step

which at the ridge way joins with the paved road
coming from the housing area.

When we walk the ridge way to the south, we eventually meet a bridge that crosses Kan-2. Watching tons of cars buzzing below us, keep proceeding and the paved way rapidly goes down to the traffic light where we’ve started. Phew! That’s the end of today’s maze game. Cars are ferociously coming and going in front of us, or of the Citizen Forest. … The baby Forest is just like us, living in maze-like Yokohama …