I wish Happy and Safe Holidays, for all of us …
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Don’t shoot! Wild animals in Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林
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| Even in
the parks of Yokohama, we can find only a small amount of acorns. The place for this photo has been regularly covered with acorns in late autumn to early winter. This December, only the ground is bare ... |
So far, very luckily, such incidences are not rerpoted in Kanagawa Prefecture. For one thing, the estimated population of bear in Kanagawa is around 40. The valuation makes the animal an endangered species in Kanagawa. Still, these days we‘re wearing bells (yep, plural) in Tanzawa 丹沢. “Hello bears and the other animals! We’re visiting your place without any intention to harm. Please let us pass peacefully.” Having said that, it’s not common to find traces of wild animals, other than deer, boar, and flying squirrel, in Kanagawa’s forests. Probably it is more desirable state of the things if we can meet more at least the evidence of animal existence in forests …
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| The entrance
of the tree hole is very smooth, i.e. flying squirrels used the place. |
Then, this summer, several forest instructors encountered a Japanese badger in Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林. At the beginning, one instructor found a hole dug into a gentle slope near the open space where more than 300 people congregate sometimes. Few weeks later, another foerest instructors met a budger resting beneath wooden folding benches stored in a corner of the open space. Both the budger and humans were agitated. The cute animal dashed out of the folded legs of benches, and disappeard in the forest near-by. News! Why not search more traces of wild animals in the water source forest?
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| The hole where
an instructor encountered a Japanese badger. Unfortunately, since then, no one saw the trace of animal from here ... Maybe the place would never be reused. Cautious animal. |
Finding traces of deer and boar is easy in Tanzawa. Yeah, decade back, deer population exploded in Tanzawa and their eating habit was destroying the ecosystem (; my post on July 14, 2017). Now the population is heading to the direction of decrease, thanks to the efforts of hunters and builders of fences blocking the access for tender forest leaves by deer (; the 2021 data can be found here). Yet, finding droppings of deer is still boringly easy when we hike in Tanzawa. Also near human settlements, it’s not so rare to witness ground uprooted wildly which is the evidence a boar came here to find ground worms for lunch. Then what about the other animals? That’s the question we forest instructors one day had, and decided to enter wild kingdom off the trekking roads.
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| The ground looks like stamped by deer ... |
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| Deer fence … but is it working? |
When we hike, we can sometimes recognize animal trails departing from the human road. So, we simply decided to trace them, hoping to encounter something for the sign of wild animals’ existence. I tell you it was not at all easy. On a steep slope, it looked easy to take a path made by some animal going up or down. Once we bipedal animal tried to take the same way, the soil is crumbling beneath our foot. It was not practical to stabilize our body only with two feet. We ended up with on-all-fours and proceeded just like four-legged creatures. One senior instructor murmured “huh … animals are great.” Agreed. Such road sometimes leaded us to a bush where tall grasses and shrubs blocked our way completely. “Er, well, racoon dogs are not so big like us.” “Yeah, probably smaller ones passed through this space near the roots and went ahead.” There, we must have been looked like caged animal trapped behind the bars of shrubs … “This hole might be usable for a temporary resting place for a badger.” “Hmmmm, but not for their sleeping, I guess.” We exchanged such conversations for hours around the forestry road and gave up. “Next time, let us depart more from the forestry road and see what we can find ...” Meanwhile, several times, we could hear gunshots somewhere from the west. Hunters. Woooooooo.
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| An animal trail going up almost vertically. |
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| The
cavity looked good for a temporary stay. But too small to make it a house. |
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| How about here? |
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| Any hole over there? |
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| Droppings of Japanese martine |
When we escaped from the bush cages, and reached the entrance gate of Yadoriki Water Source Forest, there was a group of hunters busy preparing for concluding their activity. Thet said, “We got 6 deer. Not many. We’re waiting for the crew with hunting dogs to return.” “It’s not a good day. We could have more games.” “Yep.” We forest instructors realized we were doing rather risky thing, crawling in the bush. If these hunters thought we had been their prey, what happened …? “Let’s wear a neon-colored vest next time.” “YES!” It’s the take-away forest instructors had from the field study on that day. Safe hiking, mate.
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| Hunters were waiting … |
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| A
feather of Japanese green woodpecker we found on that day. |
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/
Friday, December 15, 2023
My Christmas Wreath This Year
I know it’s completely out of the symbolism of Christmas wreath. But this year I made a wreath with dried foxtail with leaves of crimson glory vine. i.e. No evergreens. There’s not much particular reason of it … I just wanted to make a Christmas wreath with materials from the next-door environment of Yokohama’ suburbia. I happened to obtain a vine of chocolate vine while mowing in Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森. Chocolate vine is a material famous for beautiful baskets (for example, shop here), or, if it’s short, nice for making a wreath. In any case, mine is very short so I decided to use it as a base for wreath. Foxtail is ubiquitous in our neighborhood, or sometimes simply regarded as weed. In December they look like dried flowers. Why not use it for holiday joy?
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| A lot. |
Crimson glory vine, this year showed a strange result. When it was a good year for them, they start providing ripen grapes from the middle of August. This year, no. Last August was uber hot in Yokohama. In addition, in the end no big typhoon came to our town. The ground has been dry. It’s good for leaves of glory vine to turn beautiful red in late autumn. They don’t have to suffer damages by strong wind, do they? But not so good for their fruits. In December they still have tiny green bunches of grapes … They are desiccated before reaching maturity. Sad (; my post on September 21, 2018). Anyway, “what you have left that’s count,” isn’t it?
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| Certainly, they are beautiful … |
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| But it’s a sad scenery in the middle of December … |
That’s said, … I guess something is happening for our climate.
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| Merry Christmas. |
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/
Friday, December 8, 2023
AI Is Coming to Yadoriki Water Source Forest! やどりき水源林
One October day 2023, a Kanagawa Forest Instructor found a strange sticker pasted in front of the gate for Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林. It says “Ashigara AI On-Demand Bus, Knowroute, 1, Yadoriki Suigenrin (Yadoriki Water Source Forest).” What is it?
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| Mystery sticker |
A senior member of Kanagawa Forest Instructor Association later explained the mystery sticker. He sits for a Committee of Matsuda Town to discuss the welfare improvements of the townsfolk. According to him, Matsuda Town 松田町 introduced Knowroute. The service was started in Hakata 博多 of Kyushu 九州 in 2019, by Next Mobility Co., a joint venture between Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co. and Mitsubishi Co. The scheme uses the app created by Spare Labs of Canada for on-demand transit services. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan has chosen 20-something municipalities to support pilot program employing Knowroute service. The criteria of ministerial endorsement is, “The place has difficulty providing traditional public transportation system, mainly due to aging and shrinking population.” In Kanagawa Prefecture, there are two designated areas for the national pilot: Matsuda-Ohimachi Towns 松田-大井町 and Kawasaki Ward 川崎区 of Kawasaki City. Then, what’s for that sticker?
It’s a mark for Meeting-Point, a kind of bus stop, of Knowroute. The service is half-half of taxi and commuter bus. We first install an app of Knowroute (; both Apple Store and Google Play Store are available). We register ourselves as a user, with cell phone number (starting from the country code), name, zip code, passport number (i.e. inbound tourists welcome), gender, and birthday. We then make a reservation “On such-a-such day I want to ride Knowroute Bus from Meeting-Point A to Meeting Point B at (say) 9:00.” Depending on the operator of the service, the business hours and the fare differ. For Matsuda-Ohimachi Scheme, the operator is Ashigara On-Demand Institute. They operate the service between 6:30-22:00 every day. Their bus has the capacity to 8 people, and accepts the reservation from 7 days before (; but when the gate is closed for reservation, we wonder). When you ride the bus at the Meeting-Point of Ashigara On-Demand Knowroute, you tell the last 4-digit numbers of your cell phone number, and pay the fare to the driver. If you’re using the service several times a week, you can choose to purchase monthly pass which allows you (and your family depending on the type of the pass) to use the service without paying cash every time. Otherwise, the system allows “visitor” usage for 300 yen (about USD2) a pop. I tell you it’s a terrible bargain. If you use a taxi from JR Matsuda Station to Yadoriki Water Source Forest one way, it’s about 4500 yen (approx. USD30). With Knowroute, 300 yen, WHAAAAAAAT!? Basically, the service is for local grandpas and grandmas who give up their driver’s license. So, the deal is reasonable. We visitors are free riding. Advertisement of the service is uber tricky now … I’m betting my blog is for the people who are not native Japanese speakers. The traditional transportation business in western Kanagawa Prefecture will not notice … crossing my fingers. This week is about my very easy adventure with Knowroute to Yadoriki Water Source Forest.
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| A Knowroute bus in the town center of Matsuda |
First, I registered myself as a visitor-user at their site, and made a reservation like “Please pick me up at 8:45 from JR Matsuda Station. My destination is Yadoriki Water Source Forest.” Oh, I have to tell you the gate at the entrance for Yadoriki Water Source Forest is the remotest Meeting Point for the Matsuda-Ohimachi Servide. It has the proud number “1” as the Meeting Point. After my request, the AI calculated the expected time we could reach the destination. I checked it, and tapped “Reservation” as the schedule was OK. 8:45 pick-up on that day the Knowroute said I could reach the destination at 9:11 by Number 3 bus. It was a reasonable time equal to the case when we drive from JR Matsuda Station to the Forest. Though, I found when I changed the pick-up time for 8:50, the estimated arrival time was around 9:40. It’s because the service would pick up the other passengers for another destinations along the way, and reach to the deep forest as the final destination. I guess if it is early morning, the probability is very high for the service to bring us directly to the Water Source Forest via the quickest possible route. I have to add the Meeting Point of the Water Source Forest is operational for 6:30-17:00 only.
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| From
the north exit of JR Matsuda Station, we can admire Mt. Fuji, if weather permits. |
That morning, I waited for the service to come at the north exit of JR Matsuda Station of Gotemba Line. Between Odakyu Shin-Matsuda Station to the north exit of JR Matsuda Station, I witnessed another Knowroute Bus busy carrying passengers to somewhere. The Meeting Point number at JR Matsuda Station was 146. Wow. In front of the Station, there was #4 Knowroute bus standing-by … The reservation page said mine must have been #3 … that’s not the bus I can take … Then, at 8:45, #3 bus came and stopped at Meeting Point 146. Bingo. When I got on the bus the driver asked my registered name, and the last 4 digit of my cell phone number, which is a reservation number of Knowroute service. After checking I was a person who made a reservation, the driver asked me to drop 300 yen into a transparent plastic box next to him. I guess when we pay the fare with a bill or 500-yen coin, it would be a sort of mess at the beginning. If you plan to use the service, prepare the three 100-yen coins at hand. I was the only passenger for #3 bus. I took a seat, the driver asked me to wear the seatbelt (until I put it on, he did not ignite the engine), and the bus departed the Station.
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| The Meeting Point for JR Matsuda Station is there. |
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| #146 |
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| #4 bus was standing-by. That’s not mine. |
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| My 300 yen |
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| #3 bus is coming. |
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| “Are you Naomi?” |
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| The plastic box for 300 yen |
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| All aboard! |
From the town center of Matsuda to Yadoriki community, there is only one route, via National Route 246 to Prefectural Road 710. After passing Yunosawa housing area 湯の沢団地, Road 710 gains the altitude. When we find the construction site of Shin-Tomei Express Way on our right (; my post on November 10th), to our right there appears a road going to Kayanuma community 萱沼 of Yadoriki. Knowroute is serving for this area as well so if there had been somebody who made a reservation when I went to the Water Source Forest, the bus would have made a detour there. That day, the bus went straight Road 710 as-a-matter-of-factory at the corner, then turned left at Intertek Japan premise. I thought it might enter Mushizawa area 虫沢 of Yadoriki (; my post on, say, August 18), but nope. There was nobody who made a reservation for this timing. My bus turned right without crossing Tashiro Bridge 田代橋. It went a community road running along Nakatsu River 中津川 to Odera Bridge 大寺橋 and continued straight without crossing the Bridge. I was surprised as the route was a short-cut to Water Source Forest we forest instructors normally took. The bus did not take a detour to anywhere, passed Miroku Camping Ground ミロクキャンプ場 and carried me to the Meeting Point #1, Yadoriki Water Source Forest, at 9:11. This was the power of AI!
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| From 246 to 710, turning left. |
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Safely arrived
at the Water Source Forest, on time. |
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| Thank you Knowroute! |
In the afternoon on that day, I returned to Matsuda town center hitched on the car driven by a fellow forest instructor. Along the way, we passed an oncoming Knowroute bus filled with passengers. A few whiles later, the traditional commuter bus service between Shin-Matsuda Station and Yadoriki came. It was empty. That was an ominous sign … I don’t know how the social experiment will go in Yadoriki. One thing for sure: going to Yadoriki Water Source Forest is now uber easy. An inconvenience of this service is, we cannot adjust arrival time. But if it is early morning, or we don’t have to be exact for the time, the shortcoming may not be that much. If you’re interested in the scheme, please try. When the Knowroute bus makes detours, it could be a chance for you to communicate with the locals, or explore local scenery of Matsuda-Ohimachi area of western Kanagawa Prefecture.
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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/
Friday, December 1, 2023
Out of Season: Forests in Kanagawa are turning their colors … but
We’re murmuring. This year fall is short. We had a day with more than 25°C temperature in early November. To the beach! Then, last weekend the max temp was around 12°C. Hello Christmas. If autumn had about 3 months, we could have enjoyed the changes of our forest in a more slow and relaxed way. Sad. Still the leaves are turning their colors in the mountains of Kanagawa. In Yokohama, the change has begun. Once it has started, the end it will come very soon …
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| Neoshirakia
japonica, probably the most beautiful tree in autumn for Japanese mountain forest. It’s Japanese endemic species. With some reason not many people know this tree … they show their bright red for just few weeks in remote mountains … |
Not only we, but also some flowers might have been confused these days. Or, is it natural to find such baffled ones in forest? The other day, when we checked the autumn vegetation along Hadano Forestry Road 秦野林道, we met a pretty spotted bellflower, flowering. Er, excuse me? Do you think it is June?
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| What are you doing here now? |
Then, in another slope we were welcomed by elegant Rhododendron wadanum, also flowering. Oh yeah, they welcome us every late spring to early summer in Tanzawa mountains. But … are you alright doing this in mid-November?
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| Hmmmm … the photo is out of focus … sorry. |
Flowers are for making seeds to continue their species for generations. Both flowers we’ve found in November are dependent on insects for pollination. But could they find helpers? In late autumn, the number of bugs is also small, of course. Last summer we found two huge nests of wasps beneath Nakazawa Bridge 中沢橋 of the forestry road. They were terrifyingly buzzing. Now in November, everything was quiet. Wasps were carnivorous so if they are quiet, their meals, aka other bugs that can help pollination for flowers, must be scarce. Poor flowers. They are pretty. They must have spent huge energy to be beautiful. But all would be in vain … Sad.
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| Quiet nests in November |
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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| Daurian
redstart. From Siberia, they come here to spend their winter. |
Holiday season is coming!
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/
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