Pounding: making mochi cake at the top of Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama 小仏城山

 

Rice cake, mochi in Japanese, is popular in Japanese cuisine. It’s made of steamed sticky rice pounded enough to be the rice gummy. It takes a certain effort to make it. In yesteryears, it was a regular menu for village festivals and served each community member as a token of celebration. The time when Japanese consume mochi most must be for New Year Celebration. It can carry symbolism of the tradition, like Hot Cross Bun for England. Having said this, now in the 21st century we can purchase it all year round from supermarkets, neatly wrapped and ready to be popped in a toaster. Traditional meaning aside, making mochi is a fun group activity. So, please try Aotengu mountain café 青天狗 at the top of Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama 小仏城山. This week I tell you my adventure of mochi-making there.

That day, Mt. Fuji was beautiful ...

First, where is Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama? It’s the next peak from uber-popular Mt. Takao 高尾山. How to go Mt. Takao must be explained a lot in the travel guides for Japan or Tokyo. I omitted the itinerary today. Between Mt. Takao and Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama, I posted travelogue several times in this series, including the route for enjoying the “most beautiful cherry blossoms in Tokyo (; my posts for February 25, March 4, March 11, 2022). Please check these if you like. In any case, although there are several branch trekking ways between Mt. Takao and Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama, it‘s a simple one way direction. The majority of branch roads meet soon several times, or join at the top of the mountain at the end of the day. + It‘s uber popular hiking course. You simply join the crowd, and Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama is just there. As long as you wear good shoes + hiking gear and carry enough water, don‘t worry ... er, it‘s becoming problem these days accidents are happening too often especially among overseas visitors who are not at all prepared for hiking. Although it‘s not Mt. Everest, the mountain is a mountain, and we must get ready for walking such environment even if it is for Mt. Takao. There are of course the other routes reaching to Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama skipping Mt. Takao. It’s a bit complicated operation, including finding bus stops or entrance to hiking course, etc. So, I skip these today: main topic is POUNDING MOCHI!

Along the route,
there are many maps showing the routes around Mt.Takao.
 Follow these directions together with your fellow hikers.

Actually, the most important thing for having rice-cake fun at Kobotoke-Shiroyama is Making Reservation. From their HP of this, there is a reservation link. The café Aotengu 青天狗 moved from the neighboring peak of Mt. Kagenobu 景信山 last March, and with this they transfered mochi-making service to the top of Mt. Kobotoke-Shiroyama. When you make reservation, please tell Mr. Aoki, the owner of the café, the date and expected arriving time of your party. In order to make mochi it is needed one overnight soaking of rice before steaming them, and so RSVP. Also, you need to confirm your mochi-making by 15:00 of the day before of your fun. Oh, I have to add this: you cannot make mochi alone. At least two people are needed, and Aotengu does not offer variety of portion: 3kg of sticky rice only. We’ve been there 6 people, 5 males and me, ate mochi enough, and could prepare souvenir for 7 families. You see? Mochi-making is the thing of festivals!

Aotengu Café

Aotengu Café prepares the tool for mochi pounding (mochi-tsuki in Japanese), i.e. a set of pestle and mortar, and 3kg of steamed sticky rice, for around 9000 yen. As these days the price of rice in Japan is super volatile, please ask café how much it is now. The Aotengu also can lend us a portable stove, a deep pan, and a ladle, all of which are in separate charge. We brought by ourselves these tools + lots of H2O, hand sanitizer and plastic gloves for serving food. Mr. Aoki said OK for this. H2O is very important as there is no water source at the top of the mountain, you know. However, if you bring in alcohol drink by yourselves, Mr. Aoki will charge 1000 yen per person, as his café sells such beverages. Please be a nice customer for Aotengu. Aotengu Café also advertise special relish for enjoying mochi cake, i.e. minced Japanese leeks mixed with yuzu-taste miso paste. Or you can bring your own condiment and the other ingredients for your mochi dishes. It’s OK. By the way, eating mochi with butter and soy sauce is very popular these days. Tomato sauce or olive oil with salt also goes well with mochi. The menu with mochi could be infinite if you like. Mochi with cheese and chocolate sauce is also my favorite 😊.

Steamed 3kg of sticky rice,
situated neatly in a large mortar.
 Traditionally, Japanese mortar for mochi pounding is
 made of a large trunk of Japanese zelkova,
hollowed out for this usage.

When the rice is ready, we need to work with it quickly.
First, mash the rice with pestle.
Oh, you’d better wet the pestle before the start.
 Otherwise, the rice sticks to it,
and mochi pounding becomes messy.

Mashing …

until the rice becomes this level of gooeyness.

Then, turn over the now so-so gummy mass
of sticky rice upside down.

Finally we start pounding.
Don’t waste your time reaching to this stage.
Rice still must be very hot.
Several times of pounding,
then another person turns over the rice.
 Continue the routine.
 So we need at least two people for mochi making,
 in order to avoid cooling of rice in the process.

The key to pounding is
using gravity working on the heavy pestle.
You wind the pestle up, aim the rice, then,

swing down the pestle.
I tell you
hitting the rim of mortar is not a rare thing.
It requires a certain technique
for smooth pounding.

Almost there …
the rice cake still must be hot at this stage.

The other things we noticed we should have brought were

1. Corn starch and clean operation sheets like perchment paper for bakng. After pounding mochi-cake, we have to divide a mass of mochi into at least a loaf size or smaller. At the top of the mountain, there are only outdoor picnic benches which is not suitable for working with food on it. We managed with the things we brought this time, but reminded ourselves next year we’ll be more organized. 

2. More variety for condiments/relish to enjoy mochi. We brought only soy source and nori seaweed, which is a bit too simple for rice cake for roughly 20 people. I really regreted I have not brought cheese and chocolate sauce …

Done.
We forgot bringing corn starch and operation sheet
 … only chop sticks.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Things worked out somehow.
We had it with soy sauce, nori seaweed,
and sweet soybean flour.
We also cooked soup with carrots,
Japanese leeks, chix, and mochi.
It was a cold day.
Hot mochi was delicious.

Anyway, it was really a fun. Also we must be in a hurry for mochi-tsuki as we have to finish our task when the steamed rice is hot enough to be glutinous. Yeah, we must preserve our energy for doing this after going up the mountain. But empty stomach does not have to wait for long ... er I’m not sure if it is a suitable activity for hot summer … but it is certainly very popular entertainment. Aotengu Café said by the end of this March all the reservation is taken as of today. The chance to enjoy mochi pounding at the cherry blossoms season maybe for next year? Please consider.

Megalopolis Tokyo over there …

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/

Yearning for Spring: Plums have finally started to bloom in Yokohama

 

I think this winter is a sort of erratic. One day, it’s very warm like a spring day. Then Japan-sea Polar airmass Convergence Zone (JPCZ) came to snow madly in several areas of archipelago. Yokohama has so far been spared from disruption by snow, though it was damned cold last week. Maybe flowers are also confused. I feel the blossoming of plums is late this year. But finally this week, they started to smile in Yokohama. As of February 16, plums in Yokohama are still 30% or so opening … still, it’s something we’ve been waited.



One plum blossom

    One blossom's worth of warmth

                Hattori Ransetsu

                (Translation by Koichi Otsu.)



梅一輪

　一輪ほどの暖かさ

                    服部嵐雪

Ransetsu is a disciple of Matsuo Basho.

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712

FAX: 045-550-4093

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp

Epilogue: After urbanization and endangered Asarum tamaense Makino

 

Stachyurus praecox in Tama Hill

In 1931, Dr. Tomitaro Makino (; my post on October 27, 2023) named a species of Asarum (; my post on May 6, 2022) found in Kawasaki. It is called Asarum tamaense Makino. As it is in the genus of evergreen Asarum, it loves humid forests with leaves sprout out straight from the ground and flowers with brownish calyx stick to the soil. Asarum can move VERY slowly from the place parent plants locate. Estimated speed of its movement is about 1 or a couple of kilometers per 10 thousand years. i.e., it has time to evolve adjusting to a particular environment where the “original” established (literary) its roots. Actually, Japan has 50 known independent species of Asarum each of which is exclusive to a very limited geographical area, similar to Darwin finches in Galapagos. In 2020, a team of botanists led by Dr. Yudai Okuyama of National Museum of Nature and Science published in Annals of Botany their findings from DNA sequencing for almost all (mainly) Japanese Asarum. They theorized when Japanese archipelago was a part of Eurasian Continent 7 to 10 million years ago, the ancestors of these local Asarum moved from a part of now-China, and diversified their DNA pattern suitable for each distinctive environment where they stay for a very long run. Environments of Japanese humid forest floor can be different even between the neighboring small valleys, and hence we have many species of Japanese Asarum. Asarum contributes to a high biodiversity of Japanese nature.

Asarum tamaense Makino
 in a forest of Kanagawa Prefecture.
I won‘t tell you where I found them.

For the case of Asarum tamaense Makino, it has adjusted the climate of suburban Edo (aka Tokyo) whose soil is fluvial strata created by Tama and Tsurumi Rivers + volcanic ash from Mt. Fuji. DNA-wise it is locally very unique species spreading on the eastern edge of Fossa Magna region. Asarum tamaense was once ubiquitous in Tama Hills and little bit of Sayama Hills. Oh, by the way, it was the area where a massive housing development occurred during the 1960s and the 1970s. Please guess what happened to Asarum tamaense. Nowadays it’s a rare occasion finding Asarum tamaense in local neighbourhoods. Many survived Asarum are in college campuses where professional botanists roam, or in town where the landlords close the access to their land ... Moreover, as Asarum genus loves humid forest floor, drying ground accelerates the demise of their species. For example, if you leave ordinary forest on Tama Hills without proper management, sasa bamboos cover the floor completely. The spread of sasa roots over the surface of ground obstructs rainwater to seep in. Asarum tamaense will die for thirst. Now, Asarum tamaense Makino is nationally designated Endangered Species.

Once
people become not caring about forest floor in Tama Hills,
Sasa bamboos dominate.

The story of Asarum tamaense Makino is related to the issues surrounding Yokohama‘s Citizen Forest, don‘t you think? Normally, they flower in April, but in this boiling climate it might be earlier this year ...

Flowers of Japanese raspberry
which flower the same time as Asarum tamaense Makino.
I took the photo in Tama Hills.

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712
FAX: 045-550-4093 

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp

Friends of Friends: Lovers Associations for Yokohama’s Citizen Forest

 

In a sense, the strategic designation of Urbanization Control Area and Lovers Association System are two sides of a coin for Yokohama’s environmental protection. First, the city secures green spaces from rampant urbanization pressure. Then, the policy introduces the forestry and “gardening” by Lovers Association to stop the preserved forests degrading into a damping ground for social nuisance. When the city gave preferential tax treatments for landlords allowing their property to be Control Area, the office put the condition in the contract for the title holders to form or collaborate with “citizen volunteers group” who engage in forest management. As a carrot, the city pays a Lovers Association based on the length of strolling path within the Citizen Forest, where the Lovers are expected to keep it safe for visitors enjoying the forest. By becoming the leader of a Lovers Association, the landlord shares this subsidy with the other members of the Lovers, and says “thank you” to the volunteers maintaining his/her property.

So, the majority of Yokohama’s Citizen Forest has Lovers Association which was formed by landlords, their relatives, and/or old acquaintances. It’s not anomaly for these groups to limit the membership. In this regard, Niiharu is one of the exceptions as the Lovers Association does not have any condition to be a member. Here is the latest list of Yokohama’s Forest Lovers Associations which allows anybody who can join the volunteering. The number of the groups in the catalogue are far smaller than the number of citizen forests and smaller forests registered at the city for environmental protection. Why are many Lovers closed community? The reason is obvious. The land is a private property. Yes, the landlord agreed to open his “garden” to the public for strolling. But yielding saws and sickles within his/her assets is a different matter ... It is already 50 years since the Citizen Forest System was inaugurated. The system has worked well. Yokohama has become a city with green spaces here and there. Yes, landlords are grumbling, but they also have preferential tax treatment and subsidy for maintenance of their estate. In the end it’s not so bad deal, is it?

Unfortunately, the scheme may be approaching a critical point. The culprit is rapid aging of society. Imagine, you landlord is now an octogenarian. You are the leader of a Lovers Association for your forest. The member of your team is long-time friends of yours. You guys have had a good time enjoying large-scale gardening in your asset. And the average age of your team is … octogenarian. Maybe you have kids. They are Hamakko, proud city slickers. They also are not young, maybe in their 40s or 50s, the prime age as working force for Japanese economy, i.e. busy. Yes, they know their dad has not so small land in Yokohama. They will inherit it. But

(1) they are not interested in dirt works of forest management, and/or

(2) they do not want to manage their dad’s human relation in Lovers Association. 

They plan to pay inheritance tax, period. No thank you for continuing dad’s pal-circle. The closed nature of Lovers Association guaranteed a certain level of forestry output, but it has now led to a serious problem of generational change and the resulted labor shortage. Lots of Lovers Association for Citizen Forests face currently the problem of continuation, i.e. sustainable existence.

The city office is in damage control mode. For example, take Jike Citizen Forest (; my post on October 7, 2015) which is, maybe, a property of proud descendants of Samurai with family tradition of at least 900 years. Unfortunately, the forest now does not have a team of Lovers who takes care of the maintenance of ancestral land. It could mean some inheritance incidents would have occurred lately and heirs may have paid their inheritance tax with land ... I don’t know exactly what happened. But one thing is for sure: the City of Yokohama hires professional landscapers to clear the undergrowth along the strolling paths in Jike Forest, which is normally done by Lovers Associations. The office also organizes a couple of “fun forestry day for anybody who can come to the Jike forest” in a year. Is it enough? … Yokohama is in the climate zone for temperate rain forest. The maintenance requires more than a couple of days per year for the forest to be at least comfortable to walk, let alone preserving biodiversity. Jike’s forest is rapidly becoming dark due to overgrowing trees and bushes. Comparing, say, nearby Kurokawa Forest (; my post on December 15, 2024) on the edge of TamaHills, the difference is now apparent. I doubt if the Jike forest maintains variety of living creatures which just a couple of years ago welcomed us in a nicely maintained forest …

Commercial rice cultivation is continued in Jike community.

Though, the forest circling the rice paddies is …

Pro-landscapers mechanically mow the grass
to 1m inside the forest from the path.
Er, OK, good job.

It’s not a unique example. Shomyoji Temple Citizen Forest (; my post on December 4, 2015) does not have Lovers Association either. Masakarigafuchi Citizen Forest (; my post on August 21, 2015) is lucky. When its Lovers Association was seriously preparing for closure, a group of young neighbors happened to visit the forest. They were interested in the forestry work and the retiring guys and the City persuaded them to “inherit” the management of Masakarigafuchi Forest. Not all the forests in Yokohama are so fortunate …

And so, the conclusion comes to the word of “Coordination Saves the World” again. Tokyo was once engulfed with enthusiasm for bulldozers. Now it has only large parks. Yokohama has managed to keep neighborhood greenery in urban environments so far. But we are in the middle of rapid demographic change. In this new world, closed associations cannot achieve even status quo. To sustain our success, we need cooperation of neighbors, especially new and young people next door who have potential to pass the baton for the next 50 years and beyond. The problem is how to find such people. The saving grace is these days kids in Yokohama are taught SDGs in schools and know, at least in textbooks, the importance of sustainable greenery that can lead to poverty reduction and coordination for world peace. Let us see how we can go from here …

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712
FAX: 045-550-4093
Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp