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Foundation Newsletter Tamagawa

No. 129 “Yoshino-baigo and Yoshino-kyou”

Reports from our Seasonal newsletters
Special Edition on the Annual Report about the Foundation’s Projects
No. 129 “Yoshino-baigo and Yoshino-kyou”
The Foundation Newsletter, Tamagawa (English Version)

 

Yoshino-baigo and Yoshino-kyo

Yoshino-baigo (Yoshino Plum Grove), an attraction for many plum blossom viewers every year is one of the famous scenic spots for plum blossoms in the Kanto area, located on the right bank of the Tama River near the Hinatawada Station on the Ome Line. After a 15 minute walk from the Station and crossing the Jindai Bridge, one arrives at the entrance of Ume-no-Koen (Plum Park), where the entire mountain looks as if it is covered with plum blossoms. Going around the entire park, one can enjoy the beautiful scenery to the fullest.
The area here is the steep gorge called Yoshino-kyo (Yoshino Gorge), where a river terrace had been deeply eroded by the Tama River. From the bridges of Jindai, Koubun, and Okutama, one can enjoy a broad view of the amazing contrast between the clear deep blue water and white sands spreading below. The brilliant colored leaves in late autumn are especially a breath-taking beauty.

 

Photo & Text Hidehiko Endo

[Opening Article]

River

 


by C. W. Nicol MBE
Chairman, The C. W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust Nagano

 

 

I first came to Japan in 1962, and I have spent more of my life in this country than in any other, including the land of my birth. Moreover, since I came to live in the countryside of Nagano in 1980 I have travelled all over Japan, from Shiretoko in Hokkaido to the Kerama islands far down south. What other land has sea ice in the north, coral seas in the south?

 

 

When I first started hiking through the Japanese mountains and valleys in my early twenties, I was deeply impressed by the clear rushing rivers, by local people being able to fish for delicacies such as wild char. When I was young, in Britain, it was only the aristocracy or the wealthy (or poachers) who could enjoy such treasure from the streams and rivers!

 

 

Then, over the years I have seen so many mountain rivers degraded by concrete linings and sabo dams, or polluted by carelessness and ignorance. Children used to play in their rivers and streams, but now they are told not to by schools and authorities.

 

 

I have also seen rivers saved up by the dedication and passion of local people, and even some authorities. The headwaters of the Tama River are a good example. The Tokyo Water Board has been doing an excellent job of sensible forestry and water conservation, but they could do more, if we all support and encourage them to do so.

 

 

With all these fast flowing rivers and streams, and with a coastline longer than that of the lower states of the Unites States of America, Japan could and should have one of the richest freshwater fisheries in the world.

 

 

As I sit and write this, I look over my right shoulder to the Torii River, which runs to the Chikuma, then becomes the Shinano River which flows into the Japan Sea. When I first came to live here an old man told me of how he would go to even the small streams that run into the Torii, and snag a salmon with his sickle. Salmon ran all the way to Matsumoto to spawn. There were viable salmon rivers from northern Kyushu to Hokkaido up until the early years of the Showa Period. All of this could be restored!

 

 

If we bring back healthy, sustainable forests (and after all, 67% of Japan is covered with trees) then we can bring back healthy, sustainable streams and rivers, and at the same time restore our coastlines and wetlands. We must repair the insane, disgraceful waste and environmental destruction of the last century. If they can bring back salmon and otters to the Thames River, a once terrible polluted river which flows through London, then just imagine what we could do in Japan! That is, of course, if we have the will, the courage and the dedication to do so. I know that we have the expertise and knowledge.

 

 

 

Photo by Kenji Minami

 

 

[Special Article]

Passing the Blessings of Satoyama Down to the Next Generation

by Kunihiko Nakajima
Chief Director, Ome Forestry Study Group (NPO)

 


With the rise of the global warming issue, expectations are that we will have to drastically change our life style as well as our industrial and social structures towards the ones that are eco-friendly. In the midst of the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period, 2008-2012, the role that community forests is expected to play is ever increasing.

 

 

In retrospect, the most devastating deforestation in Japanese forestry history is said to be the reckless felling that took place in the early Meiji Restoration. Flood control works carried out to counter the situation led to afforestation and to the increase in domestic wood production, which brought about much achievement in disaster control works including flood control.

 

 

Today however, the rapid emergence of new risk factors, such as the spread of poorly managed forests and hungry deer finding almost any plant palatable, is posing a serious threat of disaster. Ironically the flagging market price of timber is also discouraging tree thinning, which is leading to further deforestation nationwide.

 

 

A forestry administration that treats forest management as a business without consideration for cost-accounting, that carries out subsidized programs based on sophistry, and that ignores responsibility for their misdirected managements no longer has, from my point of view, its raison d’etre.

 

 

The Forestry Agency should reaffirm that only way for them to meet the expectations of the Japanese people is to make steadfast efforts to preserve the land of Japan, to establish practical nursery and conservation mechanisms for forests and river catchments in accordance with local situations, and above all to have consistency in their forestry administration, which is a matter of national policy.

 

 

It is in this kind of environment that we have set up our organization. We have reviewed past efforts made and familiar cases concerning nursery and conservation mechanisms of various areas, and are now tackling the most pressing issues found as a result of this review process.

 

 

People enjoy the conveniences of modern life, such as “water running from the tap” or “fire from a stove at the push of a button” as a matter of course. Can our children imagine what is behind the tap or the button? What kind of dreams will our next generation have for their future lives?

 

 

There are many people who grow up without having the experience of planting trees or making a fire. Surrounded by industrial products, people are exposed to merely virtual nature or human relationships. Are we the only ones who worry about children growing up with a distorted view of the world?

 

 

Well-managed forests welcome us with caring hands, but poorly managed forests often show their angry fists and warn us with their devilish power.

 

 

It’s time for us to realize how limited the world is behind the tap and the button. Let us work together in order to sustainably enjoy the blessings of Satoyama.

 

 

 

 

 

Ome Forestry Study Group (NPO)

in Ome Branch, Tokyo Forestry Union,
〒198-0001 902 Banchi, 7 Chome, Naruki, Ome-shi
TEL: 0428-75-0855

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