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| Trekking road in the forest of cedars |
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| Calm |
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| Some gap areas appear occasionally. |
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| Galium
niewerthii Franch. & Sav. It’s nationally defined endangered species, Category II (VU). It is found in Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Actually we can find some colony of it in Niiharu Citizen Forest where it is one of the best hot spots of Tama Hills. This one in the City of Fujisawa is VERY VERY rare. |
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| Acropteris iphiata |
Proceeding the trekking road to the northeast direction, we will meet a drying wetland where it was once rice paddies. Its geographical feature is Yato valley, a common rice cultivation area in the small hills of Kanto Region. I had an impression the surrounding hills here are far milder than Yato in Yokohama, like in Niiharu. Maybe, it’s a difference between Sagamihara Terrace and Tama Hills. Now the former rice paddies are covered by common reed. There is one foot path connecting both sides for Yato. Please cross the valley here and reach the other side. Follow the trekking road starting from the crossed foot path. Soon we will meet a relatively wide unpaved road running along the field of reeds. Take the direction of southeast. Before long we will be in more landscaped expanse of drying wetland. This is Endosasakuboyato Park 遠藤笹窪谷公園.
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| Common Reeds are entering our sight. |
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| The foot path |
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| To the upstream |
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| To the downstream |
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| Streams are snaking between the reeds. |
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| The other side |
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| The
area is mixture of afforested cedars and probably naturally coming broad-leaved trees. |
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| We
reach here from the back of this photo. The trekking road comes out to this graveyard point (on our left in this photo, but when we come here it is on our right). This means the forest was once a part of the agricultural village. |
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| The entrance to the Park is on our right. |
Endosasakuboyato Park is 2.5ha of flat land in the Forest for Healthy Living. The place was once rice paddies. Now small streams and ponds run between the former paddies with Japanese Iris and sweet flags. The pathways are well-maintained and wide, which are completely capable of wheelchairs and stretchers entering. (How to come here for wheelchair users has a trick. Please read on.) The entire park area makes us feel safe, i.e. very suitable for the Forest of Healthy Living. The water system provides home for aquatic creatures, frogs et al. The forest we’ve been provides layers of protection for the living things in the Park. Volunteers for the Forest, with the help of professional landscapers, help maintain the water stream in the Park. They also research the ecosystem of the area and report their results to the public. People of Fujisawa are proud of having here as the most biodiverse area in Fujisawa City.
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| Wheelchair capable road |
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| Volunteers resurrected rice cultivation here. |
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| Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm … |
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| Benches
are here and there. The admin office is over there. |
The end of today’s itinerary is an admin office for the Park. They have a mini-museum of the Forest, toilets, a seminar room, and an observation deck. People station there can give you the latest information about the Forest of Healthy Living. The other side of the admin office has a fashionable fence and beyond there is a stylish building. It is a campus for the Faculty of Nursingand Medical Care of Keio University. When we leave the admin office and take a well-maintained paved road, we find parking space for the Park, then a large car maneuvering space for the University. Go forward further. We will meet at the front entrance for Keiiku Hospital and the traffic light at the corner of commuter bus terminal of Keio University Stop. When wheelchair users plan to visit the Forest of Healthy Living, please take this route turning at the corner of the Hospital and find a parking space on your right. Yup. This is Forest of Healthy Living gatewayed by a large hospital and education institute for health services. Very apt. 😊 Before leaving the Forest, there is one more place to visit here. Unfortunately, it would be difficult for wheelchairs to visit. Otherwise, it was a curious and beautiful spot. Let’s go there next week.
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| The latest findings in the Forest |
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| There are picnic benches. |
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| A scene from the observation deck. |
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| The main gate for Endosasakuboyato Park |
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| The Faculty Building along the road |
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| The Parking for the Park, and |
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| the other side is the Faculty Building. |
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| The hospital is on our right. |
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| We’ve returned to the bus stop. |
Endosasakuboyato Park 遠藤笹窪谷公園
4840 Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, 252-0816
Japan
Phone: 0466-47-7760
https://endosasakuboyatokouen.jp/
Instagram: @endosasakuboyatokouen
