Promising Start: Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest 長津田宿市民の森

The City of Yokohama opens one new Citizen Forest per year these days. Admitting its size is getting smaller, I think it is something we try to preserve our greenery in the megalopolis Tokyo. Fiscal 2020 is the turn for Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest that 長津田宿市民の森 is near JR/Tokyu Nagatsuda Station JR/東急 長津田駅. It opened to the public on April 1^st, this year. Let’s have a look of the place.

The access to the forest is easy. Please leave Nagatsuda Station from its south exit. When we come out, on our right is an office building for JA Yokohama. Please pass in front of it, and turn right at its corner. It’s an alley way running along the tracks of JR and Tokyu. Walking for 5 minutes or so along the busy train services, our road becomes a slope. Please keep going until you find a “peak” in front of you, and another slope on your left, at the corner of Konpirajinja Yasaka Shrine 金毘羅神社八坂神社. Whichever slope you take, we can reach to the Forest, but today let’s take the left one that is going to the back entrance to Nagatsuda Elementary 長津田小学校. In 20m or so, the slope reaches to its peak (and the entrance to Nagatsuda Elementary). On your right is a small unpaved trekking road which runs along the school building. Please take this one, and soon you’ll see the signpost saying ”Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest.”

The south exit of Nagatsuda Station

Please take this road shown by the arrow.
 Oh, this branch of JA Yokohama does
 a small farmers’ market from 14:00
 every Tuesday and Friday.
 Young farmers of the area bring their fresh produce
 for a reasonable price.

The road turning at the corner of JA is like this.
 Adelante, por favor.

We can see the “peak” over there.

Let’s take the left road.
 Could you see red painting over there?
 It’s the back entrance to Nagatsuda Elementary.
 The forest on our right is for the Shrine.

At the Elementary, there is this signpost
 showing us the direction to the Forest.

This road eventually becomes like this …

to here,
 the entrance to Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest.

The structure of the strolling route for the 3 ha Forest is damned simple (; map, here). There is the central road going from the southwest to the north east of the Forest. The northeastern exit is where we’ve reached from Nagatsuda Station. There are 3 short sideways that allow us to experience inside of the Forest. As for the main road for Tsunashima Citizen Forest (; my post on June 26, 2015), it seems to me, the central road running the Forest is a commuter road that is a shortcut to Nagatsuda Station. So, lots of locals are coming and going through the forest. The central road is a ridge way and the Citizen Forest mainly expands to the north slope of a hill. Area-wise, roughly, bottom 1/2 of the hill is off-limit for casual visitors since it is designated as a nature conservation area.

The main way

We can easily recognize
 where the sideways go from the center road.
 The Forest has these picnic benches.

Off-limit areas are fenced.

It’s easy to walk Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest. We go the main road and take sideways as we like. All the sideways are visible from the arterial now, because the mowing and thinning were done just recently. It’s easy to spot small plants here and there on the forest floor. The Forest is a baby as a Citizen Forest, and so the management of the place is still at the beginning. I think the place has a potential to show us the type of ecosystem typical for Tama Hills, eventually. Roughly 4/5 of Nagatsuda Forest is facing to the north. Possible natural ecosystem here could be for north-facing slope of Tama Hills 多摩丘陵. Mr. Hideshige Uchino 内野秀重, the director of Nagaike Park for Hachioji City 八王子市立長池公園, Tokyo, once told us north-facing slope with natural vegetation these days is not so common for Tama Hills due to heavy housing development. We may find natural characteristics for north-facing hillside of Tama Hills in Nagatsuda-shuku Forest in few years.

On a new stump,
 there came lots of wood ears (Auricularia auricula-judae).

The Forest had a small colony of Tricyrtis hirta.
 Please treat them carefully …

Tama Hills lie on a sort of ecological border between northern and southern Japanese vegetation. The strikingly clear-cut frontier is the approach to Yakuo-in Temple of Mt. Takao 高尾山薬王院 (; my post on December 22, 2017) where northwest slope consists of deciduous broadleaved trees and southeast is for evergreen broadleaved trees. Warm air from the Pacific Ocean and chilly winds from Siberia hit the bumps of Tama Hills and create a mosaic of wood zones. Not only trees, but also forest floors can show this complexity, especially in the forests of northern Tama Hills. Secretly known unique ecosystem for north-facing slope of Tama Hills is in my beloved Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森. Although it’s not so striking as for Mt. Takao, north-facing slopes of Niiharu tend to have plants that incline to colder soil, such as western bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum). Nagatsuda-shuku Forest can also be a good exhibit of Tama Hills, I expect, because of its direction.

Pretty flowers of Oplismenus undulatifolius

Their Agrimonia Pilosa var. japónica is large.

When you leave from the Forest, you can take the left road which is paved, that will lead us to the small peak we saw when we came from Nagatsuda Station. This route goes through a small community that I guess was for landlords of Nagatsuda-shuku Forest. Beyond the rail tracks, we can see rolling hills of housings typical for Tokyo’s suburbia. Before, the area was of forests and grassland suitable for exercise of Japanese Imperial Army. In the shrine we passed to enter the Forest, there is a large monument commemorating Crown Prince Hirohito 裕仁 (Emperor Showa 昭和天皇) observed almost a century ago a massive drill. The reason why the forest has a name with “Shuku 宿” is, the community spreading south of the Forest was a post town for Oyama Street 大山街道, once popular among pilgrims from Edo (Tokyo) to Mt. Oyama 大山 (; my post on March 17, 2017). Actually, Nagatsuda area has several historical remnants typical for Japanese villages near the capital city Edo. If you live near there, you can explore the memory of village-suburbia life of Japan centuries ago. Here is a walking map you may be interested. These days such “Exploring Our Neighbor” walk is uber popular in Yokohama. Reason? COVID-19, of course. It may be safer in open air than in crowded shopping center, isn’t it?

The left road is going down.
 The forest on our right is also a part of
 Nagatsuda-shuku Citizen Forest,
 but it is off-limit for visitors.

Some trees in the closed area of the Citizen Forest are
 observable from the road.
 This is a pretty Euonymus hamiltonianus Wall.

I’ve found a large colony of
 Juniper haircap moss (Polytrichum juniperinum)!

The monument commemorating the Crown Prince.

Hmmmmmmm … typical suburbia …

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

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/

New Normal: Lovers Association for Niiharu Citizen Forest has resumed activity 新治市民の森

Now, we are searching for New Lifestyle with COVID-19. Already during the State of Emergency during April and May, the number of people who visited Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森 skyrocketed. According to May 21^st issue of Town News, Niiharu Satoyama Park Office said the number of people who visited the Park (1/3 area of Niiharu Forest, outside the “territory” of Niiharu Lovers Association) was 7,776 in April 2020, compared with 4,151 in April 2019. Although, the State of Emergency was lifted, the trend of more visitors continues. Yeah, we know new patients of COVID-19 emerge daily in Metropolitan Tokyo. We must adjust our way of doing things to live with COVID-19 …

Anyway, especially in April at the beginning of New Lifestyle, Lovers Association of Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治市民の森愛護会 heard many incidences in the Forest, including

• Theft of marketable plants and animals, including wild orchid, bamboo shoots, larvae for butterflies, etc.
• Unlawful parking in wherever near Niiharu Forest. Neighbors are furious now. People for the office of Satoyama Park found many number plates from Tokyo or beyond during the State of Emergency. “I just wonder why they don’t go to their nearby forest.” Yeah.
• Unleashing dogs; you may say “So what?” It’s a huge NO-NO. These pets have immunity for infectious diseases thanks to vaccine shots. They can carry illness without any problem. If you unleash them in forest, they leave the source of maladies there. Poor wild animals, like racoon dogs and hare, will easily receive viruses and the like, and be pushed to the edge. Actually, racoon dog families of Jike Citizen Forest 寺家市民の森 (; my post on July 10, 2015) are now near extinction due to scabies brought by pets. If you bring your pets to forest, please keep them within your reach ALWAYS, to save wild animals.
• Riding bikes in the forest; this is also a terrible prohibited move. Such mechanized tires dig and compact the soil without fail in a second. Under the climate of Yokohama, once a terrain in a forest is scarred in this way, it takes 100 years to recover 1cm of topsoil with natural process with leaf litters and soil organisms. Compressed soil deprives oxygen for the creatures living underground, including the roots of mighty oaks. The area will die as a biosphere sooner or later. If you want to experience thrills of mountain biking, please go to designated areas for the usage, not in natural forests.
• Barricaded a spot for “our family’s personal usage” with ropes tied to trees. Under Japanese law, the things growing in a forest is also a property of landlord of the place. Without permission of the owner, being it the governmental office (for Satoyama Park) or the private titleholders (for 2/3 of Niiharu Forest), such act is pure trespassing. The property-owners can sue the perpetrator for criminal offence. They may have wanted to pitch their tent and keep away “may-be COVID-19 infected people” from their weekend relaxation. But it’s illegal, PERIOD. Besides, fastening rope to trunks could damage the vegetation, you know.
• And, … Trashing. The number of garbage we collect during our patrolling is definitely on the rise for Niiharu Citizen Forest. Forest is not your trash can. Please carry your waste away from the forest, thank you.

In June, it seems to me, the situation is heading to a new equilibrium … Not many serious incidences now. Even though, the number of people who come to Niiharu Forest stays “Many” compared with the pre-COVID era. In addition to the families with kids, now we Lovers meet many groups of young people, including running circles. They may have found a new training ground for their future marathon events, instead of going circles around a crowded Imperial Palace … As Lovers suspended our forestry activity for April and May, the roads of Niiharu Forest are almost overwhelmed by overgrown grasses and tree branches. Weekend mowing and pruning has become heavier tasks compared with the pre-COVID time. We must do this and at the same time be alert of crowds passing by. “Naomi! Stop your weed whacker!” Then, behind me, a group of colorfully clad runners went in speed. Phew. Close call … I hoped some of them might be interested in helping us to take care of our nature … My wish is going to be fulfilled, perhaps. My senior for Lovers who’s in charge of answering email enquiries, Mr. Katsumasa Matsuda to be exact, told me. “From April, I’m receiving lots of emails asking how to be a member of Lovers. During the State of Emergency, they came to Niiharu Forest and impressed that much!” We resumed our weekly activity on June 6^th, and already there have come two new members. Will they remain? Will this trend continue?

Niiharu Lovers do community service, including a support for local schools who visit the Forest for educational purposes. Just recently, 5^th Graders of nearby Miho Elementary came to mow the area of School Forest. Miho Elementary 三保小学校 is one of the 5 biggest elementary schools in the City of Yokohama. 5^th Graders are 200 kids of 5 classes with 40 pupils each. In Pre-COVID, they came the Forest en masse, had an orientation meeting at once, then entered the site to do the task altogether. Not this time with COVID-19. The program was designed to avoid having a large gathering. Class-by-class, 40 kids each, they came to the site separately. Teachers used the walkie-talkie heavily to keep distance between the classes. “This is Class-3. We’ve arrived the entrance to Ikebuchi Hiroba いけぶち広場, over?” “Copied. This is Class-2. We will complete the task in 15 minutes.” “This is Class-3. Roger.” Woooooow. This is some sort of serious operation. We Lovers did the same orientation 5 times. A smaller group of 2-3 kids were spreading widely in the forest, and we instructed their usage of sharp sickles almost personally, 5 times for each class. All of us wore masks, and kids wiped the handles and helmets after their use with sanitizing wipes they brought from home.

Sanitized sickles … we’re not butcher, for sure.

Sanitized helmets. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm …

When Class-5 came to the site, it was past 11 o’clock. Some of them were saying “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I’m hungry!” “Well, after finishing this, you’ll have a school lunch, won’t you.” “Nope!” “Huh? Have you brought a packed lunch from home?” “Nope.” “?” “We go home after this.” “We don’t have a full-day school yet.” “Someday is only in the morning. The other day is only for the afternoon.” Oh … We understood. Still, kids looked very happy in the forest. They impressively mowed their field. “Well, do you want to do it more? Do you want to play in the forest?” “Yeaaah!” They replied with twinkling eyes and bright cheeks poked from the side of masks. I was a bit afraid if they were nearing to heat strokes …They are lucky kids, living next to one of the richest forests of Megalopolis Tokyo. Since last March, the schools that Kanagawa Forest Instructors regularly support their forest activities do not have any of such activities at all. We don’t know when their educational forest adventure resumes … Meanwhile, kids around Niiharu Forest are playing almost daily in the forest and fishing Louisiana Crawfish. Well, they don’t have 6-week summer vacation, nor 2-week winter recess this year. Those holidays are already halved to re-schedule the covering of lost school days. New normal for the Covid-19 Generation.

Before kids

After kids. They did a wonderful job.

Oh, if you’re interested in joining Niiharu Lovers, please email to

niiharu_aigokai@nifty.com

Mr. Matsuda understands English. We’re doing our weekend forestry every week, rain or shine, literally. (Oh, yeah) Annual membership fee is 1000 yen which is for insurance. 😊

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/

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

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/