Every New Beginning Comes from Other Beginning's End: Kanagawa’s forests and aging society

 

And so, Yokohama’s problem of aging population for environmental management is tackled in this way (; my post last week). In numbers as of January 1, 2026, Yokohama has 3,769,748 population which has been increasing in this post-COVID era. Especially, younger generations have moved into our city. They are nullifying the decrease from elderly passing-away. In addition, our city will host International Horticultural Expo in 2027, “Green×Expo” held near Citizen Forests of Northan Yokohama, i.e. Seya, Oiwake, Yasashi, Kamikawai, Miho, and Niiharu (; my posts during 2015). The momentum is building up in our neighborhood greenery. Yokohama can, at least for now, think a way to deal with the greying population as a public relation matter. It should be fortunate. Kanagawa Prefecture has a different problem.

A neighborhood stroll path in Yokohama

Yokohama has 437.4km2, roughly 18% of Kanagawa Prefecture with 2416.55km2. In this limited area we have approx. 41% of Kanagawa’s population with 9,217,647 (as of September 1, 2025). People live in Yokohama is relatively young and increasing. In contrast, for some time Kanagawa Prefecture in total is observing the decrease in population and rapid aging especially in rural areas. Even before the greying problem became obvious, a guy for financial affairs of the Prefectural Office once told me money-wise Kanagawa Prefecture was depending heavily on taxpayers of Yokohama. Well, we Yokohama people are generous. We’re paying 3 different taxes for environmental issues. One is the national tax, Forest Environment Tax. Another is the prefectural tax, Water Source Environmental Protection Tax. And finally Green Tax for the City of Yokohama. Among these three, national tax is returned to the city as a subsidy for “Using Japanese forestry products among citizens.” E.g. Building your home in Yokohama with Japanese timbers will receive municipal support pecuniary. Green tax is for maintaining and expanding your neighborhoods forests of Yokohama. Your family can enjoy your Saturday lunch there easily. Then, Water Source Tax? Er …

This fall, we’ve enjoyed beautiful autumn leaves
in Yokohama’s forests.

Water source forests for Kanagawa Prefecture are in the eastern slopes of Hakone National Park, Tanzawa Mountains and Takao Mountains which are Quasi-national Parks. When the tax was introduced in 2007, the forests of the area were indeed suffering neglect due to already aging and decreasing population of mountain villages. But thanks to the nature of forestry, once the maintenance jobs are done with the tax base, the next job-cycle for such areas begins 20 or more years later. This means, taxing 2026 people for 30-years-later-jobs has a little persuasive power. In addition, for the majority of city rats, i.e. we the people of Yokohama, National Parks are recreational areas, i.e. luxury, and do not have much familiarity with our daily lives. Paying tax for this now? No way.

In Tanzawa, autumn leaves were also splendid this fall.

Of course, the people living in mountain villages must have different opinions. The public works using the income from Water Source Tax has been VERY important income for rural areas. But, that’s that. For example, Yadoriki Community is observing rapidly decreasing population, and the remaining people are more and more aging. Since last year, there is no commercial farmer in Yadoriki Community. Yes, people are tending their veggie fields for home consumption, but no more tea or citrus growing for business. Reason? Ag works on steep slopes are too much for grandpas and grandmas. Younger people have taken city jobs for better pay, commuting to nearby cities which is really near in Kanagawa Prefecture. A familiar story for all over the world, I guess. The issue of Water Source Tax is now not for environment, but for welfare of aging populations. It’s difficult for the Prefectural Office to sustain the argument for the scheme now. Water Source Tax will be abolished in 2027. Soon.

Er … this openness was really something.
But once we realize this is a commuter road
 within Yadoriki community which is
 half an hour car ride from Odakyu Shin-Matsuda Station,
can we simply praise the atmosphere?
Isn’t it desolation?

Last fall, a new honcho has been assigned to the Prefectural division that is in charge of the matters of rural areas in the west of Kanagawa. That person may have been given the mission from the HDQ in Yokohama to rationalize prefectural works for the area. The closure of the visitors’ service for Yadoriki Water Source Forest was announced last month. The deadline was not clarified but the Forest Instructors’ Association was notified to evacuate the buildings rather sooner. The demolition of the admin house at the entrance is said to be started within months. Yeah. Since last summer, those facilities could not have electricity. The Prefecture surveyed the wiring and found several points where the connection was directly eroded by wet soil (; this is water source!). Moreover, the foundations of the log houses are more and more fragile thanks to the decays from high moisture (; this is water source!). For restoration of such structures the Office needs money of certain amount. When there is no solid reasoning to maintain the service and financial arrangement, closure shall be inevitable.

Yadoriki’s toilets are closed.

Instead, portable toilets are situated.
We don’t know how long this service is provided.

It is said that the offices for the Forest of the 21st Century (; my post for July 28, 2017) will also be closed, or the service there will be reduced to the minimum. For both Yadoriki and the 21st C Forests, I know the number of visitors is really small. The rationalization in fiscal expenditure for them is unavoidable. But I think the real difficult part will start after closure. OK. Stop taking care of the places perhaps would not cause serious problems for now to the environment. The thinning and mowing have been completed in the area thanks to these 20 years of the tax base. But, then, is there a reliable prospect for another policy when the time comes and the forests need help again? I don’t say there is nothing in store for the policies of the Prefectural government … I’m now collecting information which includes interesting projects with top-notch technologies. I’m also hearing the stories when the frozen approach to the forests causes problems. I’ll tell you these when they are ready. Meanwhile, in 2026 we’re starting the new era for our neighborhood forests.

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/

Perpetual Summer, in a forest: the Niiharu Conservation and Management Plan 新治保全管理計画

According to the Yokohama Citizen Forestry Guideline and Conservation / Management Plan 横浜市森づくりガイドラインと保全管理計画, the Niiharu Citizen Forest was unique from the beginning. Yokohama had many volunteer organizations with the name “Lovers of Forest” 森林愛護会. The majority of them were mainly consisted of landlords of the place. The composition of the Lovers of Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森愛護会 was opposite: the number of landlords in the organization was smaller than that of the volunteers who simply loved to take care of the Niiharu Forest. Moreover, the Lovers was not the only organization who had activities in Niiharu Forest. There were the Organization for Promoting Niiharu Satoyama Community 新治里山「わ」を広げる会, the Association for Niiharu Bounty Community 新治恵みの里準備会, the Council for Fun Learning along Umeda River 梅田川水辺の楽校協議会, and the Lovers of Waterside of Ipponbashi Bridge Medaka Plaza 一本橋めだか広場水辺愛護会. i.e. The current members of the Niiharu Council. Many people understood for some time the Niiharu is the focal point of the north forests of Yokohama. Already before the first Green Up Plan, the demand was growing among them to establish a guideline for coordinating activities in Niiharu. When the Plan was actually started in 2009, the volunteers for Niiharu Forest saw a chance to coordinate the activities by drafting the Niiharu Conservation and Management Plan 新治保全管理計画 (Niiharu CMP). From the inception, the Plan considered the forest as a continuous environment from the remnants of agricultural Satoyama to the Citizen Forest. 

To make a CMP, the city supported the activity of these volunteers who later became the members of the regular Niiharu Council. Not only the Office for the Park Greeneries in the North, but also the offices who were in charge of planning coordination for the Green Up Plan and the department for agricultural policy joined. The CMP drafting council was officially inaugurated in 2010 with the members of the embryonic Niiharu Council, technocrats from the city, academia, and a consultant with whom the city contracted for administrative coordination. First, they had several workshops and a symposium to decide the contents of the CMP. The process included open field survey meetings with the public, whose results were reported in newsletters distributed among the volunteers and the neighborhood communities. The participants of the discussion agreed to conserve Niiharu as a wholesome environment of Satoyama that consists of rice paddies in yato valleys climbing up to hills with trees and grass fields in-between. So, the zoning in the Niiharu CMP was based on Asahi Yato 旭谷戸 (for Zone A), Yato-da 谷戸田 (for Zone B) and yato valleys south of Kamadachi 鎌立 and Mujina むじな Yatos (for Zone C). The indicator species for each of sub-zones were strategically chosen to represent the connection within an ecosystem so that birds of prey such as buteo japonicas and lanius bucephalus are regulars in many zones.

Yato-da

Joken Yato 常見谷戸 in Zone C

During the field surveys, the technical experts noticed there were several places where too much mowing made the ridge of the forest ecologically unstable. … My “a-ha” after observing enthusiasm of freshman forest volunteers about chainsaws. J Line census for wild birds and researches of fireflies were also a part of the surveys that revealed the timing of volunteer activities was not right to produce the maximum impact for improving the Niiharu’s biodiversity. These lessons learned created the detailed forest practice guide according to the vegetation in the actual forest. The Niiharu CMP explains not only the target ecology of each sub-zone but also the timing, the optimal man-power, the methodology, how to process the debris …etc.  Niiharu’s CMP experience also let the Green Up Plan include training programs for forest volunteers to learn ecology of animals and plants that would help volunteering being more careful and effective. The bird watching training I attended last February was a part of the scheme. Next week, I’ll report you what I’ve learned in the spring training about wildflowers. J

Moreover, the discussion produced a concrete agenda for the Niiharu Council meeting. The people who made the CMP decided to meet about once a month to coordinate each activity, to know the result of follow-up researches in Niiharu, to harmonize scientific studies in the Forest proposed by academia, and to share the concerns and solutions about the problems such as garbage damping, arson (oh, yeah), manners of visitors, and complains from surrounding residential areas (e.g. the issues of fallen leaves in the neighboring houses). Have you noticed the internet version of Niiharu CMP does not show the entire pages of “Direction of Conservation and Management Plan for each sub-zone”? It explains the points of B-2 sub-zone only. There is a reason. As the CMP is a working guide for volunteers, it has meticulous data of ecology in each zone where some fauna and flora can be a fortune through e-Bay or YouTube. Niiharu is located within 5km from the Yokohama Exit of Tomei Freeway which is 20 min from Shibuya especially after midnight. The Niiharu Forest is the nearest biodiverse place from the downtown Tokyo. Thieves come. 2 years ago, the volunteers found an entire colony of a wildflower was taken away overnight. The vegetation hosted caterpillars of certain butterfly near-extinct in the Kanto Region. Then, within 24 hours, the flower with a caterpillar appeared in an internet auction site. The police involved, but the lost flower bed and babies of butterfly did not return. Or take accipiter getilis fujiyamae in Niiharu. It’s a near-threatened species that survives on the borderline of the Red List. Several overly enthusiastic videographers tried inserting their cameras in the known nest in the Forest. The bird is very sensitive, and they never return to a nest where they find a human intrusion. But where can they go to nurture their babies? The information of such incidences has been shared among the Council members promptly, and the necessary actions were taken with the consensus. Blacked-out part of the internet version of the CMP is one of them.

In the recent activity morning,
the volunteers found one of the open spaces was trashed,
with a mark of fires.
The incident was alerted for all the members of the Council.

The Niiharu CMP and the regular Niiharu Council became operational in 2011. At the same time, the city started to offer free follow-up trainings for volunteers to upgrade their skills such as for ecology monitoring, rope-work techniques, and the usage of logs and other materials collected after forestry works. In 2013, the Green Up Plan has entered in its second phase, and the volunteer-work in the Niiharu Citizen Forest continues according to the CMP. 2014 activity report for Lovers of Niiharu Citizen Forest lists the things the volunteers did in that year.

• Patrols in the Forest at least once a week to check the safety of trekking roads. “Is there any dangling branch over the route?” “Is that cliff stays OK for hikers after the storm?” “Is there any spot trashed?” …
• Forest management through thinning, coppicing, mowing invasive undergrowth, and maintaining the wet lands with controlled reaping of reeds. Recording the progress of ecology at the site of volunteer activities.
• Monitoring of the ecology of several Yato valleys and coppiced forests for the restoration of Satoyama.
• Management of the border areas between the Forest and the farmland of the Bounty Community members.
• Recycling the harvested logs and bamboos into kitchen utensils, fashion accessories, and picnic benches in the Forest.
• Organizing and participating educational events in the neighborhood and the downtown near the Port for forest ecology and traditional Satoyama life. Supporting biology classes in the neighborhood schools and boy/girl scouts.
• Night watch of the Forest with the nearby communities to prevent arson and theft.

All were identified as a part of national project, Promotion of Multi-functionality in Forestsand Mountain Villages 森林・山村 多面的機能発揮対策交付金制度 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. So, for 2014-2016 Lovers’ activity is receiving a national grant from the Ministry, in addition to the fund from Green Up Plan budget. After learning these, I’ve a kind of understood why my senior Lovers’ volunteers are so knowledgeable and having atmosphere of fun and camaraderie … They’ve been volunteering in the Niiharu’s pure and calm air for many years + receiving (often free) help from professionals to hone their skills. Niiharu Citizen Forest is like an eternal weekend college campus for volunteers, with scholarship. Phew.

If you find a problem in the Niiharu Forest, 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 (I guess in Japanese only)

FAX: 045-316-8420 (I hope there is somebody who can read English …)

Niiharu Administrative Office / Satoyama Exchange Center 新治管理事務所・里山交流センター

Phone: 045-931-4947

Fax: 045-937-0898

Email: info@niiharu.jp

http://www.niiharu.jp/

In search for lost butterflies: Yokohama Citizen Forestry Guideline and Conservation / Management Plan 横浜市森づくりガイドラインと保全管理計画

The creation of the Niiharu Conservation and Management Plan 新治保全管理計画 was, it seems to me, a kind of a pilot project in Yokohama Green Up Plan. In Yokohama Citizen ForestryGuideline and Conservation / Management Plan 横浜市森づくりガイドラインと保全管理計画, they discuss the experience when Niiharu was creating the Conservation and Mangement Plan. Oiwake and Yasashi Citizen Forests are also the topic in the Guideline so that these north forests in Yokohama are the pioneers of forest management with strong volunteer participation in Yokohama. Measuring the success in terms of biodiversity, the pilot forests are very successful and no wonder the replication continues now with the other forests in Yokohama.

Could you figure out a female pheasant in the middle?
It’s a wild bird I found the other day
in a farm land in Niiharu.

The Guideline consists of 3 parts. First they introduce us the overall feature of greenery in Yokohama and the necessity of a tailor-made Conservation and Management Plan (CMP). Then, the Guideline explains the method to create a CMP, really in step-by-step. The third part is a very practical and comprehensive guide for actual forestry works based on ecology for each of the environments the forests in Yokohama contain, including the area immediately next to the housing development. The third section of the Guideline was the most popular among the budding forest volunteers who attended the introductory forestry course last fall. It leaded to excited discussions about obtaining the license for chainsaws. Anyway, before unleashing our inner desire to wield a chainsaw, we need CMP. “Don’t cut trees randomly!” Yeah.

The trees are coppiced in Maruyama of Niiharu
last February … though they are still too tall.

The Guideline tells us as of 2012, only 29.8% (12,972ha) of Yokohama is covered by green where 58% of it are forests. The 2000 research done by the Ministry of the Environment found only 0.2% of Yokohama’s greenery is the original biota of the area, i.e. 99.8% of 12,972ha is Satoyama with very long-term human interventions. For Yokohama, Satoyama provides more biodiversity so that the key to achieve rich environment in the city is slow and controlled human intervention. In the 21^st century urban life, people do not have immediate incentive to recreate traditional Satoyama life. In order to attain environmentally friendly Yokohama, it is necessary for the urbanites to have a CMP with a clearly defined image for the future of a forest in 20 years ahead. The future vision is the first thing CMP shall have. For Niiharu’s case, it is the Niiharu Charter. Second, when we visualize scenery of Forest A in 2035 Yokohama, it will have a community of living creatures that is for a target vegetation in the CMP. To make the goal realistic, we have to think the current condition of the forest with respect to its geology, biology, and relationship with the urban human life. Inevitably we cannot ignore the history between the place and the humans in addition to the natural biota of the area. Adding possible resources the management can mobilize now, the objective becomes very specific for a small zone within Forest A. As one forest can have numerous zones, it will also have a variety of target vegetation. Finally, in order to achieve a target by the volunteers who are basically city dwellers without previous experience in forestry, people do need step-by-step instructions for the job in terms of timing, the method of intervention, resource allocation, and monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, if a forest has many zones with different targets, the work required for each aim will differ. It is the reason why we have a bulky volume for Niiharu Conservation and Management Plan with detailed work plans for dissected zones with specific target vegetation each.

Within a forest, Niiharu hides many large cherry trees.
People were picnicking under the flowering trees.

I guess it is probably something of “lessons learned” after rampant deforestation and impoverished urban environment in the decades of almost unchecked housing development … The Guideline emphasizes the importance of continuous monitoring and evaluation by the citizen forestry. All the tailored CMPs shall have indicator fauna and/or flora for target vegetation each that tell(s) volunteers our work has achieved an original objective, and we will maintain the environment as such in perpetuity. Here fauna includes urbanites who visit the forest for weekend relaxation. The forest volunteers are expected to watch continuously and carefully the soil, the winds, the sunshine, the composition of plant / animal community, and the usage by visitors in the forest. The information from monitoring will be evaluated among all the concerned parties promptly to be utilized for a timely modification in coordinated activities. I realized why the lecturers in the Introductory for Forest Volunteers in Yokohama emphasized the forte of volunteers … as detailed and continuous eyes of the protectors of forest. When we consider the glacial pace of eternally understaffed bureaucracy, and the vegetation could be in threat of bulldozers any time, it would be effective to station willing people who care continuous human cohabitation with the terroir. Otherwise … I am shocked to know beautiful sasakia charonda that was so familiar when I was in kindergarten is now near extinct in my home city. The caterpillars eat leaves of celtis sinensis and the adults drink sap from quercus acutissima and quercus serrata. All the trees are of Satoyama, and they were destroyed massively for houses and condos … The absolutely practical Guideline recommends not to make sasakia charonda as an indicator for volunteer activities, but choose hestina persimilis japonica instead. Sad. Very sad.

Table manner of a bird of prey

After listing the necessary contents in a CMP, the Guideline talks how to make a CMP. Though the process explained is in detail, the summary is simple: coordination. In order for a CMP to be useful for a forest, everybody who engages in conservation and management understands and consents with the contents. The Guideline says a CMP must be an agreement from the beginning among the people who care the forest. So, during the course of drafting a CMP, people must decide who does what, and an institutionalized way to harmonize the activities after the CMP becomes operational. It is a kind of natural for a council to be born. At the beginning the parties who have a stake for the forest meet regularly to draft the CMP. During the discussion the division of labor gets clearer. People could imagine possible contingencies in a practical sense, and arrange the way how to deal with probable “matters.” What if when the Lovers of the Forest realizes that a work is more dangerous than it is expected in the CMP? Let’s make such incidents to be in the possible agenda for the council meeting. Bounty Community Association may spot strangers who could be thieves for the area. Well, we establish lines of communication for the issue to be informed swiftly among the council members and the police. How about a new task that is not in the CMP but realized as necessary later? We predetermine how to deal with such cases before the CMP becomes operational. Hey, who’s gonna coordinate all of these? The Guideline recommends to choosing somebody who has a good communication skill with broader basic knowledge for the forest, rather than a geeky expert. (Wooo …) The Guideline shows us an interesting experience with the Niiharu’s CMP. I’ll tell you in my next post how my senior volunteers did it.

Niiharu Elementary and Umeda River in early spring.
It’s a territory of the Lovers of Waterside of
Ipponbashi Bridge Medaka Plaza.

Oh, by the way, as of April 3, there remain only 3 logs of 20m long Japanese cypress and chamaecyparis pisifera in the Mukebara of the Niiharu Citizen Forest. We are still working as a human crane. My BMI is improving. Yayyyyyyy!

Remaining 3

The City Office who’s in charge of execution of Green-up Plan is

Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-671-2891

FAX: 045-641-3490

http://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/kankyo/

The Soil for Mantle Vegetation: Yokohama Green Up Plan

The Citizen Forests Family lives in a village of city planning in Yokohama. The city’s policy started from 1973 Urban Space Conservation (National) Act 都市緑地法 and the City Ordinance for Creating and Nurturing Green Environment 緑の環境をつくり育てる条例. A year before, in 1972, the Family started with 4 members, Iijima 飯島, Kamigoh 上郷, Shimonagaya 下永谷, and Miho 三保. So, Yokohama Citizen Forest was more or less born with the trend of national development policy. Then, around the turn of the century when the issues of sustainable development started to take the center stage for municipal policy with the Master Plan 横浜市都市計画マスタープラン, the Citizen Forests Family was allowed to have a distinctive place in the town. First in 2005 the Family was given a room in the Basic Plan for Water and Greenery 横浜市水と緑の基本計画. Then with the introduction of Green Tax in 2009, the Forests are allocated a large room within the Yokohama Green Up Plan みどりアップ計画. Now the policy village Green Up Plan lives has newly moved geeks such as Future City Initiative 環境未来都市構想 for alternative energy generation and fuel cell vehicles, funded by the Cabinet Office of Japan, 3R! Plan ヨコハマ３R夢！プラン for aggressive waste recycling, and Yokohama b Plan 生物多様性横浜行動計画 for biodiversity promotion in line with UNCBD. Among fashionable, cosmopolitan, and state-of-the-art neighbors, our Forests remain determinedly local. J

The planned site for the new city office in Minato-mirai Area.
There will be a skyscraper in 2020.

A fuel cell station near Zoorasia

In the town of the 21^st century city planning, the forests stay very close to us from the beginning. In addition to the landlords, it seems to me some Forest Volunteers are veteran of more than 20 years of experience in Niiharu. (Niiharu Citizen Forest has entered its 16^th year in March 2016.) As a municipal policy formation, Yokohama Green Up Plan and Green Tax scheme include a strong component of citizenry. Green Up Plan has a policy formulation / monitoring / evaluation body, called Citizen Council for Promotion of Greenery 市民推進会議 whose members are dignitaries from the leaders of Lovers of Forest Volunteers, academia, the Chamber of Commerce, and JA, in addition to the career officials from the city. They have been engaging in the Green Up Plan well before 2009. Although they are not “elected” officials, they represent the voices of their constituencies, and annually turn over the post according to the business of their home organization. Moreover, they do not act like the 19^th century gas-business people in Manchester: their voice for the management of Green Tax revenue has a strong support among Yokohama locals. In the surveydone by the city in 2013, 93% of residents and 91.3% of corporations agree with the goings of the Yokohama Green Up Plan. Even about green tax burden, 74.4% of individual taxpayers and 66.7% of corporate tax bearers support the arrangement. At least till 2018, the Green Up Plan has a solid ground. The policy received a prize from Parks and Open Space Association of Japan in October last year.

Greenery in town

The Green Up Plan has 3 Outcomes as a policy. The first one is to protect the forests in the city to be loved by the citizens. The second Outcome is to make the business of agriculture thrived and loved in the city that will protect the agricultural greenery against the march of urban development. Bounty Community Plan with Associations for Bounty Community is a project for Outcome 2. The third Outcome is to make the greenspace familiar among city dwellers through creating gardens in the downtown area. In the budget allocation for the first Plan, the second and the third Outcomes received 9% each of the money. The lion’s share of the gold went to the forests. The money Green Up Plan can use comes from Green Tax, general fund of the city, grants from the national government, and the municipal bond. Among those sources, Green Tax is strictly earmarked for the projects exclusively listed in the Green Up Plan, and managed in the special fund for Green Up Plan 緑の保全及び創造に資する事業の充実を図るための基金. Green Up “Special” lists the projects for securing forests and agricultural land, for quality improvement of the greenery, and for supporting citizen participation in greenery management, i.e. volunteering and educational events.  Observing the activities in Niiharu Forest, I think forests receive lots of pecuniary help from the Plan for sure.

Jike’s Visitor’s Center which was spruced up
during the first Green Up Plan.

Increasing allotment area is one of the outputs
the projects in Outcome 2 aiming for.
Though, the attainment of the target was 78%
in the first Plan which was lower than
any other projects for Outcome 1.

The first Green Up Plan was for FY 2009-2013. In June 2014, the Citizen Council for Promotion of Greenery published their evaluation about the First Plan. According to the Evaluation Report, the first Plan managed to secure 527.2 ha of greenery, which was 47% of the Outcome 1 target. As an absolute acreage it may not much, but it slowed the speed of deforestation in the city from 47 ha per year during 2004-2008 to 14 ha in 2009-2013. Out of 527 ha, 125 ha was bought by the city responding to the call for help from the landlords facing inheritance tax issues. This 125 ha is now permanently protected forest… Japan is really an aging society … During the first 5 years, total of 324 volunteers received forestry training, which exceeded the target number of 300, and 24,000 people participated in the seminars and fun events of environmental education organized by colleges and libraries with the fund from the Green Tax. Money. Yeah, the total expenditure used for the 5 years of the first Green Up Plan was about 50 billion yen. (Wow!) Out of the pot, more than 40 billion yen was spent for securing the forests within the city. For Outcome 1, about 6.3 billion yen was used for supporting volunteer activity in the forests, and 53 million yen was for educational activities. From the revenue of Green Tax, the Outcome 1 of 2009-2013 received more than 24.5 billion yen, and Outcome 2 and 3 got about 2 billion. Still, the Special Fund kept some change, and the projected total budget was not used up. The ratio of budget implementation ended with 85%, and the average achievement of each target within the first Plan was slightly less than 100%. It says something about the difficulty to get things done with land and environment …

A day in a corner of the city …

The second Green Up Plan of 2014-2018 is an continuation from the First with smaller budget of 48 billion yen where Green Tax revenue covers 13 billion. This time Outcome 2 emphasizes more on reducing food mileage among urbanites (i.e. promoting local ag-business), and Outcome 3 encourages downtown folks to join gardening activities in the city center. Having said that, 76% of 48 billion is allocated to Outcome 1, whereas Outcome 2 receives 8% and Outcome 3 will have 16%. 67% of the second Green Up Plan budget is distributed to secure the land (purchase, tax treatment, etc). In practical term, the environment policy is about “terroir,” yeah. At the moment, Yokohama Green Tax is a temporary arrangement till 2018. So, we’ll see how the things will turn out within a year or so.

Terroir … Oui, even in a same cherry tree,
one branch with more sunshine flowers first …
But why the top of the tree with more sunshine
does not open till the end?

The prize the Green Up Plan received last year is originated from 6.3 billion yen for supporting volunteer activities. The training sessions for urbanites to be knowledgeable in forestry are one of those sponsorships the Plan provides. Another assistance of the Green Up Plan arranges a practical guideline for non-professionals to manage the forests in Yokohama. For the purpose, the Plan emphasized the importance of formulating a detailed Conservation and Management Plan (; let’s call it CMP). Yes, that wonky gardening tome used in Niiharu. During the first Plan period, 62 million yen was used to create CMP, customized for 13 Citizen Forests each. As of the end of 2013, the forests in Yokohama with a CMP are Oiwake 追分, Yasashi 矢指, Niiharu 新治, Miho 三保, Wuethrich ウィトリッヒ, Minami-Honjuku 南本宿, Segami 瀬上, Shimonagaya 下永谷, Nakata-Miyanodai 中田宮ノ台, Fukaya 深谷, Araizawa 荒井沢, Nature Sanctuary 横浜自然観察, and Shinbashi 新橋. Their experience for creating a tailored management guide was summarized in a manual called Yokohama Citizen Forestry Guideline and Conservation / Management Plan 横浜市森づくりガイドラインと保全管理計画. It is a detailed how-to guide when somebody wants to create an individualized CMP for a forest. In the second Green Up Plan, the making of Conservation and Management Plan is continuing in the other forests, and the first 13 forests are engaging in M&E activity based on the CMP. In the next post, I’ll report you what the Guideline says.

Actually, flowers for aucuba japonica
are chic, and cute.

The City Office who’s in charge of execution of Green-up Plan is

Yokohama Municipal Government Creative Environment Policy Bureau 横浜市環境創造局

Phone: 045-671-2891

FAX: 045-641-3490

http://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/kankyo/

Mantle Vegetation: about the Associations for Bounty Community

Early this year in the post for Yokohama Nature Sanctuary, I wrote the area of Niiharu-Miho Citizen Forests and Zoorasia has the third largest biodiversity in Kanagawa Prefecture, next to the National Parks such as Hakone and Tanzawa. I mean, better than the Nature Sanctuary, even though Niiharu is just 1K south of the busiest freeway in Japan, Tomei Express Way. I’m not trained for ecology so that I cannot say for sure, but I suspect one reason for the abundance is its neighbors.

Stachyurus praecox Siebold et Zucc.
in a forest next to Zoorasia.
It is one of the bounties in Satoyama.
Its berries can be used as dye for black.
Their boughs would be a good material for household utensils.

In the first page of the map of Niiharu, we can find how the Citizen Forests and their small brothers, the Friendship Forests ふれあいの森 (; when a landlord offers his/her forest of less than 2ha for the Citizen Forest family, the forest is called Friendship Forest) are distributed within the City. The south Forest of Yokohama where Nature Sanctuary belongs is indeed the largest, and another large family member, 19.5ha Maioka Forest, is in just 4K northeast. The south of Nature Sanctuary continues for the hiking area of Kamakura City. Not bad. Turning our eye to the north Forest, from Miho Forest to Yasashi Forest in the southeast, it is also approx. 4km. Niiharu and Jike are separated for about 6km. If the continuation of vegetation is important for biodiversity, Niiharu looks handicapped? Not so fast. Actually, Niiharu-Zoorasia part of the city is in the middle of another kind of greenery of the City.

In 1968 when Japan was busy for miracle economic development, the (new) City Planning Act became effective. It defined the way to demarcate and control within a city for the area allowed to be a forest of skyscrapers (“urbanization promotion area”), and the place to keep some natural forests (“urbanization control area”). For developers, the point is how to interpret the “controlled urbanization.” The conclusion is, very near to urbanization control area = suburbia with rows of houses and condos. The result is scenery you can find in Tokyo prefecture: from the downtown it takes more than half an hour of commuter train ride to meet a meaningful volume of natural greenery. In-between is the sea of houses. Tokyo’s landscape is not much different from the place where the Yokohama Nature Sanctuary is located. The ocean view from Omaruyama in Kanazawa Citizen Forest is the rows of houses with (assertively intervened) parks + large Nissan Factory in Oppama. The west side of the Yokohama’s south Forest is also residential areas. We have to reach Maioka Forest to meet an operational agricultural community. The south Forest is besieged by housing developments (and the construction of huge freeway is penetrating).

From Omaruyama to Tokyo Bay.
The forest on the left is Shomyoji Temple Citizen Forest.
On the right is the park of the campus
for Yokohama City University.

Yokohama has industrial policies for agriculture, “Bounty Community Plan.” The City collaborates with JA-Zenchu and designates 4 farming communities with JA Yokohama’s local offices as Associations for Bounty Community. The policy is to promote agriculture in the urban setting by subsidizing the activities that connect farmers and urbanites via low food mileage. Yes, Niiharu Association is one of them, and operating with JA Yokohama for their business of selling agricultural products. The other 3 Associations are Tana Association 田奈恵みの里, Tsuoka Association 都岡恵みの里, and the newest and the smallest Shiba Seaside Association 柴シーサイド恵みの里 designated in March last year. Except for Shiba Association that resides near the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise Amusement Park 八景島シーパラダイス, the other Associations are actually consisted of farmers operating on the land next to Niiharu-Zoorasia area.

The eastern edge of Tusoka Association.
It is a hidden point to see beautiful Mt. Fuji regularly.

The oldest is Tana Association that became Bounty Community in 1999. The area Tana Association covers starts immediately next to Jike Forest and borders in the east with Niiharu Association ... The fact Jike’s farmers have a certain distance with Tana Association speaks tons of things about the proudly independent Jike Forest. (ha ha.) Tana Association and Niiharu Association are sharing the northern border of Tsuoka Association. Tana and Tsuoka Associations are larger than Niiharu Association. Tana Association continues to the farmlands in Kawasaki City and Tokyo’s Machida City. The western edge of Tsuoka Association is Yasashi and Oiwake Citizen Forests.

In between Yasashi and Oiwake Forest.
This is the land of a member for Tsuoka Association.

Take Tsuoka Association. It covers 230ha of agricultural land spreading in 1820ha including “the controlled urbanization area,” aka suburbia. If we compare the area of Tsuoka Association with the place around Shomyoji Temple Forest by Google Earth (; a bit of zoom might be necessary), we can see the difference. The world of Tsuoka Association looks like tiny uneven polka-dots of greens, whereas the area around Shomyoji is composed of geometrically aligned colorful roofs, and occasional neatly squared gardens. i.e., Unlike the residential areas in the south of Yokohama, the north Forest of the City is still surrounded by the lands for agricultural business although each of the fields is really tiny. The place of Tsuoka Association acts like guards for Niiharu quarterback from the tackles of relentless housing development from the south.

The west of Zoorasia, within Tsuoka Association territory

Private Forest within Tsuoka territory.
Comparing with the forest like this,
I've realized the special treatment Niiharu receives.

The warning from the City to follow the City Planning Act
within Tsuoka Association area.

Bounty Community scheme does not have the power of legal enforcement. Different from Niiharu Association surrounded by Citizen Forests with special treatments for environmental conservation, Tana and Tsuoka farmers must deal with the same problem Niiharu Association members face, by themselves. So, if a farmer decides it is the time to sell his/her land for housing development, that’s that. One volunteer lady for Niiharu Lovers told me in her home town far from Tokyo lots of farming families decide to quit and her nostalgic memory of Satoyama has gone. She comes to Niiharu every weekend from the downtown, taking an hour of commuting by train … She said, “You know, farming business is very difficult with inheritance taxes and other things. In my hometown people said if a family can keep the business for 3 generations, it’s a tremendous success … The neighborhood is disappearing with retired farmers dying out … Niiharu is a miracle. The Forest has us, and lots of people who care the place. It’s possible because we are in the metropolitan Tokyo area. We enjoy forestry and agriculture, but if it’s for our livelihood, it would be a completely different story …” Hmmmmmm.

The converted farm for … a solar power farm.
Well, it’s a farm anyway.

The farmland is becoming a row of houses …

So the notification says.

Although the housing development still continues, it seems to me the area for Tana and Tsuoka Associations are approaching to a kind of stable equilibrium. Aging labor force is of course a problem, but the recent “discovery” of eco-friendly food among urbanites offers (1) the market of the products the local farmers can offer, and so (2) the hope for younger farming generation in the suburb of Tokyo to retain their land and business. For example, in the middle of the area of Tsuoka Association, there is a town whose old name was Kawai-juku 川井宿. The farming community there is an old one. It was along the route to Kamakura from the north of Kanto Region so that the army of the warlord Nitta Yoshisada 新田義貞 must have passed in 1333 on their way to Seya Forest. Once we went into a residential area off Route 16 in Kawai-juku area, the road is very narrow (i.e. suitable enough for a horse carriage could pass), and among newly built houses here and there are large old houses accompanying vegetable patches (i.e. the house of farmers who engage in agriculture in the area). Near Kawai-juku (in Imajuku-Nishi town), Tsuoka Association has a direct sales store, called Mercado Tsuoka, for the products harvested in the Association area. This being in the middle of a huge residential area, it is a popular place among Yokohama urbanites. Some farmers of Niiharu also sell their produce here. Well, Nagayamon Market in Niiharu is Saturday only. Mercado Tsuoka is basically open 7 days a week. The reason for the cooperation between the Associations is obvious.

A farmland near Yasashi Citizen Forest.
The place is very near to Yokohama IC of Tomei Freeway,
which is always congested. *sigh*

A farmland in Kawai-juku

In the Mercado,
I bought leeks the other day.

Mercado Tsuoka.
It’s a small supermarket,
with gardening (er, well, agricultural) supplies.
The product line they offer includes pork (everyday)
and beef (Friday and Saturday only)
harvested in Yokohama.

Koshin monuments 庚申塚 near Mercado Tsuoka.
There are 5 monuments in this shack.
As a Koshin monument is built every 60 years
in the year of Koshin, i.e. Wood Moneky,
from the oldest monument to the newest one
we can count at least 250 years of community activity.

Route 16 near the Mercado

The community road near the Mercado.
Although the houses are standing side-by-side in a modern way,
the place keeps a scent of previous Satoyama community.

A cabbage patch next to Oiwake Citizen Forest
and Hodogaya Country Club.
Yokohama is near to self-sufficiency
with regard to spring cabbage (applause) …
so the front view of C-suite is cabbages, then (ha ha ha).

I have not checked in detail in any way, but I suspect the easiness to depart from the land depends on the historical length for a family being attached to a particular lot. When Japan lost the WWII and American GHQ issued a decree for land reform in 1947, many farmlands in Yokohama were partitioned among the previous sharecroppers. As long as I remember regarding my neighborhood (not far from Niiharu), by the end of the 1970s the majority of those thank-you-GHQ lands changed the ownership and became rows of houses. PTA of public schools at that time was full of gossips regarding the issue, and my mom often briefed us about the “local situation.” It went like, “So, her family has tons of money now,” or “The transaction involved Yakuzas, they said. We have to be careful now when we walk on that street …” Er, long time has passed since then. Land ownership issue is one of the most difficult for any development policy, yeah. But when something remains for the recollection of ecosystem, even after the huge wave of rapid urbanization, I think it would end up OK. Who knows what comes next. Japanese are getting older and dying by day! Just like arrowroots and aucuba japonica, when the memory remains in the soil, they can be a mantle vegetation to shelter the biodiversity against the strong winds from concretes and bulldozers (be it of Caterpillars, or Komatsus). J

The flower beds for Yasashi / Oiwake Forests
are full of field mustards in late March.
Could you figure out rice paddies and agricultural greenhouse beyond?

If you find a problem in the Niiharu / Yasashi / Oiwake/ Jike Forests, 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 (I guess in Japanese only)

FAX: 045-316-8420 (I hope there is somebody who can read English …)

And for your veggie shopping (and polishing brown rice Japanese way)

Mercado Tsuoka / Hamakko Direct Sale Store

289 Imajuku-Nishi Cho, Asahiku, Yokohama, 241-0031

Phone: 045-953-9558 (I guess in Japanese only)