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| A
sweet shop has gone. Though, new shops of my interest also sprout. This one in Kamakura is for mini-bonsai. All bonsai there looked so attractive … |
When now-homeowners in Kamakura bought their property decades ago, housing areas of Kamakura were just an ordinary residential section that happened to be near sea or old temples. In 2026, the entire city may be becoming a derivative of Disney Land. But. This being Kamakura where the first-ever Japanese National Trust was established for conservations of greeneries, people of the City is quietly resisting to a part of theme park. How? They care for their neighborhood forests that may be near the old tourists’ attraction. It seems to me, they intentionally omit providing parking spaces and toilets for their forests. Today I visit one of such secret camps for guerrillas of anti-overtourism. Well, posting my adventure in their forest could undermine their effort to protect the place … My excuse: it’s really “not easy” to visit there, and their forest is attractive. Anyway, one volunteer I know for the forest said “Heck, I don’t care!” about reporting their forest in this blog. OK. Let’s go to Rokkokuken’zan Forest Park 六国見山森林公園. Here is the web-page introducing the Forest, but do not expect the detail of it, as we can find for HP of Niiharu Citizen Forest. I know it’s intentional!
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| A sign
installed at the observation point of Rokkokuken’zan Park. |
The only transportation to near the Forest is commuter bus service N7 by Enoden from the East Exit of JR Ofuna Station. Its final stop is our destination, Takanodai 高野台(; the time table is here). Please get off the bus at this final stop standing next to Ofuna High School, one of the best public high schools in Kanagawa. When you get off the bus, you are now in a well-designed residential area. There is no sign for “Rokkokuken’zan Park. This Way.” However, when there is a will, there is a way. The terminal stop is a roundabout. You get off the bus and walk Clockwise for the circle. In no time, we’ll see small steps go up on our left. The steps will take us to a residential road deadened just at the beginning of the steps for the bus stop. The only destination we are allowed is to the right. Along the way on our left is a hill on whose slope detached houses are built. Along the ridge of the hill behind the houses there spread a forest. It is Rokkokuken’zan Forest Park. Strolling 5-6 minute from the bus stop, we encounter steep steps going into the forest. Welcome!
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| Takanodai Bus Stop |
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| Please take these steps. |
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| Just walk the road along the hill. |
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| Here. Welcome to the Forest Park! |
Rokkokuken’zan itself is a small “mountain” whose peak, ASL 147m, is at the southeast of the Park. You can visit the park, walk to the peak, and go down to the valley of Meigetsuin Temple 明月院. Though the peak of Rokkokuken’zan does not have a view as we can enjoy the observation point in the Park. From this point, weather permitting of course, we can enjoy the vista of Kanto Plane, Sagami and Tokyo Bays, and Mt. Fuji. The vegetation of the forest is typical for Miura Alps. It has a mixture of evergreen broad-leaved trees, such as Machilus thunbergii, and deciduous trees such as maples and cherries. The mix of them provides just the right amount of sunlight reaching the forest floor. Thanks to the sunshine, the foot of trees has enough variety of grasses, such as sasa bamboos, chameleon plants, Asiatic dayflower, etc. The trekking road within the Park is well taken care of. I had an impression the locals have looked after the place fairly well. There is a local volunteer group, North-Kamakura Spring-water Network 北鎌倉湧水ネットワーク, tend to the vegetations of the forest. Weekly, they mow the grass along the strolling path, thin the crowded trees and branches, and plant cherries, maples, and mountain hydrangea, aka tea of heaven.
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| From
the observation point. We can see Oshima Island. |
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| After going up the steps, the road is like this to |
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| Ofuna
Takano Water Distribution Reservoir for the City of Kamakura. |
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| After
the reservoir, the route becomes standard trekking road. |
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| Fairly well-managed |
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| I think this route will have beautiful autumn scenery. |
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| Volunteers are at work. |
Tea of heaven, or Hydrangea serrata var. serrata is native of Japan. Kamakura has lots of temples where they are proud of their beautiful hydrangea, such as Meigetsuin 明月院. With this atmosphere of the city, they have a Hydrangea Lovers’s Club which is famous nation-wide. They walk mountainous areas of Japan to find a new variety of Hydrangea serrata, collect cuttings, and propagate them with cutting. The volunteers of Rokkokuken’zan Forest collaborated with the Club and planted 500 cuttings of Hydrangea serrata, especially around their symbol tree, an old Cerasus jamasakura. Hydrangeas are still young. But volunteers for the Forest hope in decades the place is beautiful with cherries blossoms in spring, hydrangeas in early summer, and autumn leaves of maples et al.
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| A baby |
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| It is
amazing all the hydrangeas below were originally found wild somewhere in Japan, then propagated from the cutting in Kamakura. |
“We scraped lots of grants from many sources to procure the seedlings. It’s a fortune, I tell you. But the Forest will give us beautiful colors from the windows of our home and JR trains in future.” One of the volunteers told me. He continued, “I don’t think I can survive to see such scenery of 30 years later. But don’t you think it is full of dreams imagining our work now could present such result after our life?” Kamakura is an old city 1000 years ago Samurai worriers established. Rome was not built in a day. And so are the flowering forests in Kamakura. Maybe it is inevitable for the city to attract such a crowd of tourists. We could feel safe from touching the evidence of LOOOOONG and continuous endeavor from our ancestors. They are steady and do not care much for the fashion of the day. Especially in this day and age it could be a precious attitude.
Kamakura City Parks Association
1667 Yamazaki, Kamakura City
Kanagawa 247-0066, Japan
Phone: 0467-45-2750
Fax: 0467-45-2760
Email: info@kamakura-park.com
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