What the Next Generation May See in 40 years’ time: Tsukuba Expo Forest つくば万博の森

 

Last week was for kids who’ll be adults in 20 years’ time. What would happen for the forests when they are in their 60s? This week, I tell you about my adventure in a forest that was a bald mountain in 1985, 40 years ago. The forest is not in Kanagawa Prefecture, but in Ibaraki Prefecture 茨城県. A bit far for this blog. But the forest has a unique character. It has a detailed record of its transition from an exposed range to a greenery. To guess the forests those kids in the YNU would have, this forest in Ibaraki can be a good baseline. The name of the place is Tsukuba Expo Forest つくば万博の森 of 9.87 ha state-owned land. Let’s go there near (?) University of Tsukuba.

The area spreads over the slopes of Mt. Hokyo 宝篋山 (ASL 461 m) in the south of Mt. Tsukuba (ASL 877m) 筑波山. It was a neglected Satoyama backyard. During the 1970s and the 1980s, the pine trees once covered the mountain were ravaged by pine wilt nematode. Imagine you enter a forest of dead or dying trees with sporadic other species escaping from the disease. Not many people enjoyed the stroll, I presume. In addition, the profitability of forestry from the area were nearing to zero: a typical story for Japanese forestry with no competitiveness after 1964 log-import liberalization. Then in 1985 the International Exposition was held in Tsukuba City. The theme of the fete was “Dwellings and Surroundings - Science and Technology for Man at Home.” Looking northeast from the festival site was Mt. Tsukuba and neglected Mt. Hokyo. Oh, by the way, unlike Kanagawa or Yokohama, Ibaraki Prefecture is mainly a flat land with the second largest lake, Kasumigaura 霞ヶ浦, for Japan. From the Expo venue, the drab slopes of Mt. Hokyo must have been seen clearly. I think people at that time felt embarrassed. The Asahi Shinbun Co. launched a fund-raising campaign to reforest the area. They established Forest Culture Association 森林文化協会 to manage the donation and to talk with Forestry Agency of Japan. In 1985, they contracted with the Japanese government, i.e. the landlord, for 60 years forestry in the area.

We’ve been there from Asahi Pass carparking.
From the site to the south,
we can observe a wide expanse of Ibaraki,
including Kasumigaura.

I don’t know if they had a clear scientific idea at that time for reconstruction of Satoyama forest. … I noticed these days the idea of “Satoyama” based on a solid scientific discussion is rather new, sort of 21st century approach. (More to it next year.) In any case, what the Forest Culture Association did was clearing the dead pines, conditioning the earth, and planting seedlings mainly of Japanese cypress and some of broad-leaved trees. I suspect they introduced the baby trees from the other areas, i.e. disturbed the gene pool of the original Mt. Hokyo. Whether it was a proper approach could be a topic of ideological debate for nature conservation, but one thing is sure. The sorry state of the Mt. Hokyo is successfully reconstructed 40 years later with healthy trees. For achieving 30by30 Goal, Ministry of Environment of Japan started in 2023 the registration project for Nationally Certified Sustainably Managed Natural Sites. For obtaining certification, the Office sets conditions requiring considerable efforts and money for the people taking care of their forest. Tsukuba Expo Forest has a backer, Asahi Shinbun Co. that can provide money and connections to experts for researching the site. The army of biologists studied the area aiming for the registration. They found lots of fauna and flora which call the Expo Forest home … more than 20 species of birds for both summer and winter, roughly 60 species of insects, 8 species of mammals, and more than 300 species of flora ... In 2024, the Tsukuba Expo Forest obtained the national certification as a place of rich biodiversity.

The forestry effort by the Forest Culture Association continues. They mow the forest floor, prune and thin the trees, and research the area. In early November this year, there was a small celebration in the Expo Forest for commemorating the 40th anniversary of the project. I had a chance to attend the occasion. The people of the Association together with the researchers for natural museums in Ibaraki Prefecture guided us to stroll the restored forest. There was no trace for the damage from pine wilt. The slope of Mt. Hokyo was covered by hinoki cypress of 50cm or so diameter. The people from the Association said they shipped the logs harvested from thinned cypress to the market. I’m sure logging in the nationally owned Expo Forest is not at all profitable, BUT, the forest has recovered to the level they can provide a product to the log market. Thinking their beginning as a forest of dead pine trees, this is something.

A healthy forest now

The choice of trees for afforestation was,
I think, very for the 20^th century Japan …
If we do a similar project in 2025,
I think we will not choose hinoki cypresses,
but the other broad-leaved trees.
For Satoyama restoration in Ibaraki Prefecture
 which is famous for its temperate climate,
 the trees would be deciduous …
 Anyway, Hinoki was the best choice 40 years ago.
That would be a tricky point for landscape restoration.
It takes VERY VERY long time to see the result.

Even though, it has an enviable forest floor
 with many kinds of plants.
In Tanzawa for Kanagawa Prefecture,
deer eat up almost anything and
only limited species hated by the animal cover the forest floor.

From a point on the slope,
we can observe Mt. Fuji far away …

The highest ridge of the forest is a cleared open space surrounded by azaleas and Japanese maples, probably situated as such by landscapers. There is a monument with the engraved names of donors who contributed to the original afforestation effort. Inevitably, this is the area where the number of visitors is the largest, and hence we can find some invasive vegetation like Broomsadge bluestem. But, the researchers said, out of 313 flora species verified in the forest, only 22 species were invasive, which was a signal for a well-maintained environment. There remain 20 more years for the contract the Forest Culture Association has with the government. We’ll see how the place evolves from here. At this moment we can tell the kids we met at YNU that this properly taken-care-of forest will be a nice place for their retirement party. It could be good news, as long as we keep looking after the forest. Not bad, don’t you think?

The memorial on the ridge

Er, so I should tell you how to go there. Actually, it is rather tricky. The best route would be hiking to the peak of Mt. Hokyo. It’s a popular destination for one-whole-day hike. The Expo Forest spreads the north slopes immediately to the peak. i.e. It takes 2-3 hours’ climbing from any entrance to the hiking routes for Mt. Hokyo. … To any beginning of the trekking route, we take a bus from TX Tsukuba Station for about an hour, or from JR Tsuchiura Station for about half an hour. Me? We took an extreme shortcut by using microbus thanks to Asahi Shinbun Co. They brought us to the point where the monument is in about an hour walk in a relatively easy strolling path. Our shortcut was for permit holders only … sorry. But thanks to such remoteness, the local biodiversity is preserved to the level of national registration, so the researchers say. Hm, OK. Maybe we have to add one more thing for our encouragement to the kids. Yeah, we do our best to care the natural treasure for you, but the nice place may not be so easy to go for your retirement party in the end. *Sigh*

There was this sign showing the way
to the peak of Mt. Hokyo and the Expor Forest.

Our easy way

TX Tsukuba Station

If you have any questions about Tsukuba Expo Forest, please make a contact with

The Forest Culture Association @ Asahi Shinbun Co.
Phone: 03-5540-7686 

https://www.shinrinbunka.com/