Tis the Season … Wasps are busy

 

In Yokohama, we’re talking about roller-coaster temperatures at the beginning of May. From the end of April to the beginning of May, we Japanese have a “Golden Week” of consecutive national holidays. It is supposed to be a continuation of fine days with low humidity and so-so hot temperature. Now we expect the most comfortable season of year. This year … low pressure systems are coming from the west, i.e. the Eurasian Continent, often with still cold air, and the south, i.e. Pacific Ocean, with hot air from the equator. Just a day or so of fine days are followed by cold rain. A “fine” day becomes dead-hot summer in some parts of our neighborhood. Cold rain morning requires winter coats. What’s happening? we murmur.

Even though, our forests are growing with bursts of many hues of green. Whateva. Tis the season of refreshingly jolly and beautiful nature. … Er, maybe some dangerous creatures (for us) have the same opinion. Please be careful when you stroll in forests in southern Kanto region in early May. Poisonous snakes like Mamushi (Japanese pit viper) and Yamakagashi (Tiger keelback) become active. Unless somebody releases Cobra or something, these two snakes are the only poisonous snakes in mainland Japan. (Okinawa and south islands of Kagoshima have super-aggressive Habu snakes.) Unless you make them surprise, or intentionally attack them, they will not bite you. So, be careful during your trekking by telling them you’re coming. Chatting with your friends, ringing bear bells, carrying radio, or simply drumming the bush before you with a long stick (like Nordic poles) would work. Despite all the precautions taken, you could be bitten. In such a case, please call 119 (Japanese emergency number) immediately and wait for the professional rescuers to come. Before they arrive, it could save your life by taking standard emergency procedures on site, including rinse the bite wound immediately with soap and fresh water, rest in a posture to make patient’s heart in higher position than the wound, and drink lots of water as poison of snakes could cause dehydration. All these measures are standard by Japan Red Cross, 2020 First Aid Guideline.

Tiger keelback I’ve met recently.
It was busy going to a pond of tadpoles
rather than attacking humans.
Have a nice lunch, mate.

Another danger of animal bites around Yokohama is hornets. From late April to May, the queen hornet is busy building her empire castle in bush. When you’re strolling along a trekking road more or less enclosed by bushes in Yokohama’s forest, DO NOT drum these shrubs especially in late spring to early summer. The typical nest of hornets during this season has a size of adult’s fist, and looks like a mushroom hanging in a bush.

This is the hornets’ nest!

It’s difficult to notice them quickly. On the other hand, the number of hornets per nest at this time of the year is still not much and they are busy making their home bigger. Unless you smash the nest suddenly (and unintentionally maybe), they will not attack you. “Don’t stir up a hornets’ nest,” and leave the site quietly. If you know a contact info for the people who manage the forest, such as Niiharu Satoyama Welcome Centre, please let them know ASAP you’ve encountered the nest in such-a-such corner of the forest. They will take care of the “thing” quickly … I think it was before I started this blog there was big nation-wide news from Niiharu Citizen Forest. A group of visitors to Niiharu Forest was attacked by hornets, and a person died. Since then, people in Niiharu are attentive to the risk, so do the rest of the forests near the human settlements in Japan. In any case please be careful always in a forest.

Thank God, we in Yokohama do not have risks of encountering bear. But in the other parts of Japan, including Yadoriki Area of Kanagawa Prefecture, there are several information about bears. The latest official announcement of the Prefecture is here, and the up-to-date aggregation site of private internet posting is here. The situation is not serious so far this year, it seems to me. Anyway, better safe than sorry. Please carry bear bells. These days it is recommended to carry several with different frequencies, if possible. They can tell bears you’re coming even if you’re walking in the forest of conifers then move to a road along a babbling steam. The bells can also let the bears think you’re not alone. And a can of bear deterrent is MUST-HAVE. Having said that, last year, I tried to obtain a bear spray in early summer, and found all were sold out around here. It might be wiser if you start early to procure such essential item for walking in Japanese mountains. Safe outdoors.

Ramulus mikado. No harm from it. 😇

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/

Coming: Early spring 2026, Niiharu Citizen Forest

 

Last week, Yokohama was cold. The temperature was around 8°C at best. Greens around us on street looked bleak … This weekend, the highest temperature has reached 14 or 15°C in the North Forest of Yokohama. Finally?

Tadpoles started swimming in Niiharu.

Spring ephemeral, Wind flowers now have florets.

This is also Spring ephemeral, Carex conica Boott.

Yellow avalanche lilies show their buds.

This time of the year,
Pertya scandens have pretty popping plumules.

In Niiharu,
there are lot of trees of Early stachyurus,
Japanese native.
But those receiving lots of sunshine open first.
Flowers are honest.

I think this year
Orychophragmus violaceus flower earlier than violets.
They came from China about 300 years ago.
I heard in China they are vegetable.
Here, we normally don’t eat them.

Er …
chestnuts at the tip of a tree remain there as such …

Fritillaria verticillata var. thunbergii open its flowers now.
They are the first comers for flowering
in early spring and become dormant in late May.

Spring is coming honestly, I feel. But like the very short autumn last year it could end quickly. When the cherry blossoms are gone, Yokohama might jump into hot summer … global warming. Let us see.

Sawtooth oaks have new buds now.

If you have any questions about Yokohama’s Green Tax and Green Up Plan, please make a contact with

Strategic Planning Division, Green Environment Bureau, City of Yokohama
横浜市みどり環境局戦略企画課

Phone: 045-671-2712 

FAX: 045-550-4093

Email: mk-kikaku@city.yokohama.lg.jp

Will they flower this autumn？ Niiharu’s north facing slope of lilies 新治市民の森

 

Several years ago, the head of Nagaike Park of Hacioji City 長池公園, Mr. Hideshige Uchino, visited Niiharu Citizen Forest. He said the slope where Golden-rayed Lily blooms every July (; my post for July 28, 2024) was a precious place. Niiharu Forest locates at the edge of Tama Hills 多摩丘陵 which is basically a typical suburbia of Tokyo. The hills are covered by housing and business buildings with sporadic remnants of yester-centuries’ forests and farm fields. The slope of lilies in Niiharu is facing north and probably the underground water level is relatively high. Observing the vegetation, plants loving somewhat cooler conditions thrive there. Mr. Uchino said “Such environment is now rare in Tama Hills. Probably Niiharu’s slope is the only one left.” Hmmmmm … We have to protect it, you know. The place is covered by lilies, but they are not the only flowers showing off their beauty on the slope. Currently, flowers of Adenophora triphylla var. japonica is dominating the site, but if autumn comes as before, we will admire pale purple of wild Salvia japonica. If lucky, monkshood may return. And Japanese gentian should come in November … er, that is, if we can maintain the ground of the slope OK for these flowers.

Adenophora triphylla var. japonica

The thing is, Niiharu Forest is changing. I think we should use the term ‘evolving’ but I’m not sure whether the term is appropriate. Reason? Er … once the slope was a chestnut orchard. But in 2019, mega-typhoons came and destroyed old trees. The large and tall trees were down, and some poor trees were torn apart by strong winds. Until then Niiharu Lovers mowed the steep slope every August before chestnuts falling in order to collect autumn goodies easily. After the calamity, we did some mowing, but alas not much goodies from the tree. Besides, the chestnuts trees are really decaying. So, the serious mowing of the slope after flowering lilies is suspended. Then the City, the landlord, decided to redo the chestnut orchard with oak trees, and Lovers cleared the broken trees from the place. Aside from some afforestation by school kids this early summer the work for restoration of the forest is not yet started. The summer mowing is not done this summer.

Survived chestnut surrounded by grasses

It’s bad news for autumn flowers on the slope. Before, greedy Lovers mowed the place for chestnuts, which made the sun light reach to the ground and short seedlings of, say, Japanese gentian, could start vigorous photosysnthesis for blue flowering in late autumn. Yet, we still want to enjoy gentian at the beginning of winter. What to do? We Lovers chose to mow a small plot around the seedlings of such autumn flowers this summer. We pushed through tall sasa bamboos and Japanese bracken fern both of which dominate the slope, found seedlings of flowers, then cut these tall and ubiquitous grasses around the seedling, hoping it would help the babies to become beau in 2-3 months’ time. It is a delicate task, just like finding bugs in programming code … By the way, my PC Topy5 turned out to have magnetic head failure. It now really is “hospitalized” and undergoing a “surgical operation.” *sigh*

A sort of maze …

In a deadly hot August summer of 35°C temperature, the small plot mowing with concentration continued on the slope. After cutting covering vegetation, I found the soil around the seedlings is really dry. Not much rain has come this summer. Even if it comes, the tall grass prevented the rainwater reaching the ground. When the duration of rain is short, the water retained on the surface of dominating grass leaves evaporates quickly. I was alarmed.

Desiccated ground

One of my Forest Instructor pals has a day job for Kanagawa Water Supply Authority. He normally sits in front of the control panel for water distribution procured from Sagami 相模川 and Sakawa 酒匂川 Rivers. The Authority is in charge of management of Miho 三保ダム, Sagami 相模ダム, and Shiroyama 城山ダム Dams (; my posts for April 19 and 26, 2019) and operation for intake weirs from the two rivers. He knows the current condition of water supply in Kanagawa Prefecture. He said “Well, we don’t see any abnormality this year. Currently, all dams have more than 85% of water capacity. We soon will begin annual discharge from dams to prepare torrential rain of typhoons for Autumn.” I asked him if there is any special request from farmers for water supply. His reply was “Nah.”

His assessment may be correct for water source
 … this one is Yadoriki Stream … REALLY?

… He may have engaged in some PR stunt. But we at least haven’t heard any request for water saving from the authorities. On the other hand, also in a different occasion, personnel from JA Yokohama said this summer farmers in Yokohama are having hard time to irrigate their field. “You know, in such summer, casual watering does not seep into the ground. We have to hose down for hours to save our crops. It surely impacts the bottom line of the ag business.” Hmmmmmmm … I heard schools had difficult times moistening their lawn ground during summer vacations. Parents and teachers volunteered to tackle the task, but the baking sunshine of long day smirked human activity. Their lawn is brown. Meanwhile bitter melons of my garden do not get big. It needs more water. Weather forecasters predicted the record-breaking high temperature this week, already in September. Who said climate change is an imaginary thing?

Umeda River along Niiharu Forest.
Local farmers withdraw H2O from here, but …

I’m not sure if it is OK for rice paddies
dry this much in Yokohama’s August.

Niiharu’s pond is dried up.

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Green Environment Bureau
横浜市みどり創造局

Phone: 045-353-1166

FAX：045-352-3086
email: mk-hokubukoen@city.yokohama.lg.jp

Spring Preparation: Natural dyeing with plum branches

 

Speaking plums, to have flowers opening in early spring, we have to take care of them. That is, we need to prune their branches and twigs which often go whichever direction they find convenient. If we leave them as they please, the entire tree ends up with tangled branches. During summer when they have lots of leaves, the system of branches and leaves has poor ventilation = infested by pests and mold. Inevitably, they will not have flowers, and no fruits will be harvested. On the other hand, during summer they do vigorous photosynthesis and so they need leaves. If we trim them during summer, the tree will be starved, and no flower could be expected, or, worse, the tree could die. So, we have to prune them sufficiently at the right moment. The timing of removing unruly twigs is after they shed their leaves in late autumn. The amount of cutting is … it’s difficult to say definitely. But several sure points are

1. We should remove twigs shoot up straight from the bough which will become the base of tangled up tree branches,
2. We have to be careful to cut branches that have winter buds. Reason? Obvious, isn’t it?

It’s a sorry state of a plum orchard in Niiharu.
I’ve never seen flowers here.
The place became accessible for Niiharu Lovers last year.
(Till then, it was a private property, off-limit for us.)
Let us see what we can do here.

Lovers of Niiharu take care of this plum tree,
and yearly harvest plum fruits.
Even though, the branches are like this.

So, I pruned twigs and branches of plum trees in my mom’s garden last fall. They are small trees and did not require me much effort. Besides, this year I had another mission from the gardening. I decided to use cut branches of plum trees for natural dyeing. Although the trees of my mom are small, the amount of trimmed twigs required two 20L garbage bags if I disposed of them straight to the garbage collectors. It’s a pity doing this especially when we can utilize them, so I thought. This week I tell you my adventure of natural dyeing with these plum twigs.

Mom’s plum flower this February. My labour of love 😊

First, we have to prepare the pruned branches for dyeing. I chose the standard method of natural dyeing: stewing the plants for a while to extract their dye and dunk the fabric in the colouring-stew. In order to obtain the dye essence efficiently, it’s better the “meat” of the plant thoroughly stewed. If the plant is a tree with a hard body, we need to julienne or mince them … Plum trees have robust bough. When the twigs were young, it was easy to chop them by scissors. But when they reached 0.5cm or so diameter, making minced twigs became really a hard work. I quickly gave up making minced plum trees and did a bit of googling how pros were doing. They use only the barks of plum tree for dyeing. Bravo! I employed this approach, but still, it was a hard work peeling the barks with a machete …

The trimmed twigs from mom’s trees.

Minced plum twigs. This was the limit I could handle.

Next, I folded these minced twigs and barks in drain-nets, close the mouths tightly, and threw them in a boiling pot.

The drain-nets

The minced twigs and peeled barks are in the nets.

The oven I borrowed from the Niiharu Lovers’ Association.

Boiling …

The nets were thrown in the pot.

After about an hour boiling the pot had rose-like colour. We were ready for dyeing. For natural dyeing we use fabric of animal origin, like silk and wool. When we plan to dye plant-based fabrics like cotton or linen, we must first soak the fabric in soy milk overnight and dry it. i.e. The protein has the power to bond with natural dye. This time, I found a bargain silk downtown, so I did not have to take this stage.

The pot an hour later. Could you figure out the tinged liquid inside?

Dunking a fabric with protein in the dye, and let it keep boiling. This time I stewed it for about an hour.

We’re plunging the silk in the pot.
On that day, kids from near-by junior-high
came to experience natural dyeing.

Then, mixed the fabric in the pot with chop sticks for a while.

The silk an hour later

An hour later, the white silk now had this colour. It was damned hot so I drained it carefully and gentry, then bathed the dyed silk in alum solution. It was to settle the color in the fabric. Alum is a fixative. Internet says many things about the concentration ratio for alum-bath, but among Niiharu-Lovers “It’s not important as long as the solution has enough alum dissolved.” So, I added about 2 tablespoons of alum in 10L water.

Alum and 10L water

Let the dyed fabric swim in the alum solution for a while, about 10 or 15 minutes. Drained it and washed it in a cold water. Squeezed the liquid from the fabric, and let it air dry. Don’t you find the colour of the silk lovely?

The silk is taking fixative bath of alum.

The pot after taking out the fabric.
It’s a lovely colour.
If you want to have more deeper colour on your fabric,
you use the liquid for the second round
after rinsing it with water.

There is another choice of fixing agent for natural dyeing. It‘s by iron. We can use nails for that, otherwise we purchase iron mordant liquid from internet. In general, iron fixing produces grey to dark brown color ... It‘s a matter of taste. For both cases, the liquid waste from dyeing can safely drained in forest when that’s not a huge amount like our natural dyeing adventure. I‘m going to use my pinky-orange dyed silk for spring throw-on. 😊 Better to have light color for this, don‘t you think?

Drying

It‘ll be my spring throw-on.💕🎵

If you find a problem in the greenery of north-half of Yokohama, please make a contact with

Office for the Park Greeneries in the North
北部公園緑地事務所
Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau
横浜市環境創造局
Phone: 045-311-2016
FAX: 045-316-8420

A Touch of Make-up: season for Hangesho 半夏生

 

This year in Kanagawa Prefecture we’ve had a super-short monsoon season that ended around June 27th, 3 weeks earlier than the average year. Regular summer high pressure from the Pacific Ocean is receiving help from expediting Tibetan High Pressure and dispelled the monsoon front far earlier. After that, we’ve had more than a week of extremely hot and humid days in Megalopolis Tokyo. Daily commuting and traffic congestion started around 5 o’clock in the morning before the temperature reaches to 30°C. By noon the streets and outdoors become unusually quiet. We’ve stayed inside avoiding the heat wave just like rabbits hiding from predators ... I wonder how do forests and their dwellers deal with such extreme weather … Last weekend, I encountered “So-what?” attitude in Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森.

Niiharu Citizen Forest
 around 7 o’clock in the morning during the heat wave
 … I think the color of the sky is strange …

The ancient Japanese calendar splits a year in 24 divisions and names each with seasonal characteristics of weather or astronomical observation. People then divided each section in 3, i.e. 72 sections in total for 365 days. 365/72=5 roughly, so each division has 15 days more or less. It’s an import from Chinese calendar, but with typically Japanese approach our ancestors adjusted the classification according to Japanese nature. For the time of Summer Solstice, the first 5 days from the solstice is the time when Prunella asiatica ends its flower. The next 5 days is for Siberian Iris opens. The last 5 days which starts roughly 11 days after the solstice is the time when crowdipper opens. Such bricolage of astronomical calendar and botanical observation was important when people depended on agricultural production, they say. The ancient Japanese knowledge dictates that for successful rice cultivation farmers ought to complete transplanting rice seedling before the last 5 days of Summer Solstice, i.e. by the time they found flowers of crowdippers appear. The last 5 days of Summer Solstice is called Hangesho 半夏生.

Opened dark purple bract of crowdipper.
 Its flowers are inside.

The word itself is directly from ancient Chinese which probably means (Naomi doesn’t speak Chinese) “Half-summer.” Yep, in standard years for Japan 11 days after the Summer Solstice we should be in the middle of monsoon with thick rainy clouds above our head. Not yet full-summer. Japanese regional folklore defines Hangesho is the time for rest after busy rice planting time. Many Japanese villages had taboo to work in their field during Hangesho, otherwise some misfortune happens to the community. It was a short holidays during misty monsoon before harsh summer. Japanese sounds of the word “Hangesho” have a kind of romantic echo … Homomym of Hangesho 半夏生 in Japanese is 半化粧 which means “a touch of makeup.” Not fully completed, but in the middle of something … no direct sunlight but humid atmosphere of cloudy days … It’s not the full make-up to be presented for a paparazzi-filled party of celebrities, but relaxed natural beauty in quiet forest with a light make-up … And there is a plant having “Hangesho” for its name. Its academic name is Saururus chinensis. It’s secretly popular. Sometimes even garden centers sell Saururus chinensis for horticultural purpose.

Planted young Saururus chinensis
along a pedestrian road in a city garden.

It is a wild plant mainly found in Southeast Asia. Japan is the northernmost point for their wild population. They like wetland with enough non-direct sun light. They multiply by rhizome and have spike flowers around the time of Hangesho. The reason why they are loved is, at least around me, not for their flowers. “Lysimachia clethroides have larger flower!” We adore Saururus chinensis because of their elongated egg-shaped leaves. Around Hangesho time, the leaves of Hangesho turns its color from simple green to half green and half white, just like a light make-up. Sexy.

Flowers of Lysimachia clethroides.
Definitely flusher than Saururus chinensis.

Because of the loss of habitat, Saururus chinensis is endangered species for Tokyo. Fortunately in Kanagawa Prefecture, we still have large wild colonies of Hangesho here and there. Probably the most famous (or exposed to tourists) colony is in Koajiro Forest 小網代の森. Niiharu Forest also has a colony. They appear before Pollia japonica or heartleaf lily flowers, during Hangesho. I simply wonder if they are OK for this year’s non-average climate during Summer Solstice. They have such a period specific name of traditional climate pattern … Then, last weekend roughly 11 days after the Solstice I found they were thriving in their place for Niiharu, just as in the previous years. Phew! I hope they can stay there next year, and next …

This year’s Saururus chinensis for Niiharu

A month later,
 flowers of Pollia japonica should replace Saururus chinensis.
 Let us see … 

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/