Phew, just returned from Niiharu. First, let’s visit a forest popular among the locals in Sagamihara. It’s called Komorebi-no-mori こもれびの森, er, literally translating “Forest where sunlight filtering through the leaves.” If you have been to Sagamihara Park 相模原公園 from JR Kobuchi Station 古淵駅 (; my post on January 25, 2019), you take bus to the Park. Before the commuter service goes into the factories area, we pass through a forest which looks substantial. That’s Komorebi-no-mori. In 1973, the place of 73ha received the designation of “special conservation area for greeneries.” Size-wise it is similar to Niiharu Citizen Forest, but the place does not have a visitor center. It also equips only one toilet (Niiharu has 2 for visitors. We Lovers has 3 toilets to use). It sounds like inconvenient place. Nah. That’s the point for flat Komorebi-no-mori.
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| Flat |
The access to the forest is on foot from Kobuchi Station. By a leisurely walk on a flat road, it’s about 15 minutes from the station to the central open space of the forest. Not bad. Leave the station to the right, and you’ll see a big sign of AEON shopping center over there. Please reach there first. You’ll see the main street where AEON on your right, and Itoyokado shopping centre on your left. Go straight of this street and use a huge footbridge to cross Route 16 and reach to the other side. Keep on going straight. Soon, on your left over the main street, there is Family Mart convenience store, and on your right is Sagamihara Minami Hospital. Between the hospital building and the parking space for the hospital, there is a well-paved pedestrian road going straight. That‘s the entrance to Komorebi-no-mori. Simply keep on going. In weekends, there are lots of families, with toddlers on tricycles, use this way to reach to their be-loved forest.
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| Turn
right at the exit of the Kobuchi Station, you’ll see AEON Sagamihara over there. Please go there first. |
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| AEON Sagamihara |
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| Please use this footbridge over Route 16. |
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| Descending
from the bridge, we’ll face Route 16 at this point. Turn your back to the 16, and please keep on going straight. |
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| Family
Mart on your left. Oh, Komorebi-no-mori does not have any café et al. If you need your lunch or drink, this is the final point you can procure the things before the forest. |
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| The hospital |
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| The beginning of the entrance to Komorebi-no-mori |
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| The road goes like this until it reaches the forest. |
Before reaching to the central open space of the Komorebi-no-mori, you can find a dry small moat-like structure running along the pedestrian road. That’s a historical canal telling people’s struggle for water. The area around here began to be populated around the 1930s, less than 100 years ago. It’s simply because of the difficulty of getting water. At the beginning people struggled to dig a canal from Sagami River. Especially after the end of World War II, when the community experienced population explosion (yes! It happened in Japan!), people went frantic to have a well-structured water way to irrigate their farmland, aka food. That’s why this dry canal is so well-constructed. The canal was completed in 1963. By then Kanagawa Prefecture had completed establishing the basic structure of present-day water supply system from Sagami 相模川 and Sakawa 酒匂川 Rivers. The canal became redundant, before being used fully for the original purpose. The beautiful masonry tells the importance of the original project for pioneers who first ventured into the area …
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| The canal is dry … |
The original crops around the area was staples for dryland, hay for animal food, and broad-leaved trees suitable for baking charcoal. Charcoal was a good business before in the 1960s petro dominated the energy and beyond of our daily lives. After the world of charcoal ended, people abandoned the trees they planted in the area. A familiar story (; my post for February 24, 2017). According to the Guidebook for Komorebi-no-mori, even after the City of Sagamihara designated the area as special conservation area, the neglected forests became out of control. In 1984, the outbreak of Caligula japonica and Kunugia yamadai spread over the neighbourhood’s private gardens which were by then a typical suburbia of Tokyo. People freaked out and screamed their concern about the situation of the abandoned forest. In 1989, the City finalized the conservation scheme of the area. In the plan the local government made a contract with local landlords for rental agreement and became responsible for the management of the forest. At the same time, the office started constructing strolling paths crisscrossing the forest for the citizens enjoying relaxing walk. The municipality also invited citizen volunteers to join the forest management. In 2003, the comprehensive plan for maintenance and conservation was established where citizen volunteers play crucial roles. The city summarizes the 2003 plan in this neat pamphlet.
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| When
we stroll Komorebi-no-mori, we sometimes find ourselves returning to a typical Tokyo suburbia. I guess they were the people who met the outbreak of mosses in the 1980s. |
Currently, half the land of Komorebi-no-mori is owned by the private landlords and the rest is owned by the public sector. Whereas 93% of the forest is managed by the public sector by the contract with the landlords. The City then support groups of citizen volunteers who declared bid for the regular care for the forest. The history is very similar to the beginning of Yokohama’s Citizen Forest scheme (; my post on January 29, 2016). Maybe, it was the general trend for the urban greeneries at the end of the 20th century. Next week, I tell you friendly paths for Komorebi-no-mori. Please stay tuned.
If you find environmental issues in Sagamihara’s City Parks, please make a contact with
Water, Green, Environmental Division, City of Sagamihara
相模原市水みどり環境課
2-11-15, Chuo, Chuo-ku, City of Sagamihara 252-5277
〒252-5277 中央区中央2-11-15 市役所本館5階
Phone: 042-769-8242
FAX: 042-759-4395.
You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at https://www.city.sagamihara.kanagawa.jp/cgi-bin/contact.cgi?mail=52150000
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