環境

Daimaru Weir

Changing trains to the Seibu Tamagawa Line at Musashi Sakai station and getting off at Koremasa station, the terminal station of the line, one finds the Tama River almost right in front of the station. Walking on the Koremasa Bridge across to the right bank of the river and turning to the upstream on the bridge, one can meet one of the best 50 scenes of the Tama River, “the Tama River at Koremasa”. The magnificent scenery of Mt. Fuji and the Chichibu mountain range is available on a fine day with a clear sky. The destination this time is the Daimaru weir, located a little farther on. Keep walking and after passing under an iron bridge of the Nanbu Line, one can reach the Daimaru weir in 20 minutes and take in its entire view in a huge open space. A state-of-the-art fish ladder is built on the side of Inagi City to help fish go upstream. When I visited there, I couldn’t see any fish going upstream, as their run seemed to take place late this year. So I took the photos around the fish ladder.

(Photo & Text by Hidehiko Endo)

Opening Article

“Storytelling” Binds People’s Hearts for the Recovery of Tohoku

Keiko Hirano

Storyteller/Catalyst

Vice President of The Beautiful Tama River Forum

The Miharu Takizakura (waterfall cherry tree) was covered with swollen deep pink buds on its branches and some had
already bloomed. Since the color of the flower is very close to white when they are in full bloom, many local people come for a walk to enjoy these deep pink buds.

It was cold spring. I heard that Lake Sakura near the tree unusually iced over this winter. The area was gripped by cold weather. The storytelling recital, Stories of the Sense of Beauty of Sakura, was held in such a cold spring of
this year in Tohoku.

In this event held to support the restoration of Tohoku, I recited masterpieces of cherry blossom stories such as Shidarezakura (written by Jakucho Setouchi) and also did a play based on the local stories to offer prayers for Tohoku recovery with the audience. We hoped that people from other prefectures would come to experience the current situation of the disaster areas, to eat and drink local special foods and sake, and to purchase souvenirs. This was a sincere wish I heard over and over again from people at the disaster areas.

Standing by their will, The Beautiful Tama River Forum, a community development organization in which private and public entities work together (its head office in Ome Shinkin Bank), quickly launched the movement of ‘Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees (Sakura)-Tour of 88 Sacred Cherry Blossom Viewing Spots’ that was modeled on the Forum’s major sightseeing
plan, Tama River Dream Highway of Cherry Trees. This is a plan that has already become a very popular sightseeing bus tour, etc. and is also a big event attracting many visitors from various areas. In fact, storytelling recitals have already been held as a part of this plan. Since we came to think that the ideas and hopes of the recital can be of use to support the restoration of Tohoku region, we decided to hold the recital in each prefecture in Tohoku every spring for ten years starting this year. The memorable first recital was held at Miharu Takizakura in Fukushima prefecture, the first sacred cherry blossom viewing spot of the 88 spots on the Tohoku Dream Road.

This year in Fukushima, there were cherry trees without any visitors, even if they bloomed so beautifully. Farm products without any problem suffered serious damages by harmful rumors regarding their radiation contamination. Too much
concern about radiation exposure influenced people’s choice of traveling routes through Fukushima prefecture.

I want to introduce Fukushima’s local histories, cultures and delicious products to people of other prefectures so that they would know more about the good points of the prefecture, and I strongly hope for the people of the prefecture to always
love their hometown.

During my rehearsal in daytime, many people passing by gathered around the stage. When rehearsing the talk about the local stories, I unexpectedly got cheering and applause. I gazed at the faces of audience in surprise. In their sincere looks,
I felt that people living there are perhaps seeking reasons or motivators to keep their hearts in their hometown in earnest at any time. Understanding their feelings, my eyes suddenly filled with tears.

For the fantastically lighted night recital, the audience came from all over Fukushima, the Tokyo metropolitan area, and from Iwate and Hyogo prefectures. Since the event was held after dark, many of them spent the night in Fukushima. Right after the
recital, several locals said with an eager look, “The thoughts for restoration reached us so well,” or said strongly, “I finally moved back to Fukushima, last month!”

The objective of the first recital was successfully accomplished. The greatest contributors are those who came to the event in cold weather. I would like to thank all of them from the bottom of my heart.

A lot of the mass media reported the event. Just the other day, during the broadcast of the radio program in which I appeared, many e-mails carrying attachments of my photos at the recital and messages were delivered to me. They
were introduced in the program, with messages such as “I accidentally saw your rehearsal in Miharu and couldn’t leave till the end of your recital.” or “I got goose bumps because I was so moved.” Remembering the Miharu Takizakura of that time, I was moved to tears again.

Special Article

The Great East Japan Earthquake Restoration Support Project Looking Back at the Implementation of “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees (Sakura) Plan”

Fujio Miyasaka

Director, Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees (Sakura) Plan Promotion Committee

Director, The Beautiful Tama River Forum

Last July, the “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees (Sakura) Plan”, a project to support the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake, was given the go-ahead at the extraordinary meeting of the steering committee of The Beautiful Tama River Forum. At that time, the Tohoku region was suffering from not only lingering unprecedented predicament but also
harmful rumors in the aftermath of the gigantic earthquake that hit there four months before. So, how to support the Tohoku restoration was an urgent national agenda. The Beautiful Tama River Forum believed that its universal scheme of Community Development Movements through Regional Public-private Partnerships/Collaboration Promotion in an era of a depopulating society would give momentum to the Tohoku restoration. We therefore introduced our scheme to our sister movement, the Beautiful Yamagata-Mogami River Forum. This is how “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees (Sakura) Plan” aiming at community development through tourism was launched with the catch phrase “Let’s Go and Enjoy Cherry Blossoms in the Beautiful Tohoku with Love”.

Designating beautiful Sakura, the most admired flower in Japan, as a symbol of Tohoku restoration and connecting 88 cherry blossom viewing spots in the six Tohoku prefectures, this pilgrimage tour was planned to go around with a prayer for Tohoku restoration. Further momentum was catalyzed with the participation of the transportation sector (airlines,
railways, bus companies, etc.) joining this project along with travel agencies. We asked them to develop various Sakura pilgrimage tours. Also, on the 1st of October, we announced welcome messages with the title “Come and Enjoy Cherry
Blossoms in the Beautiful Tohoku with Love” from the governors of the six Tohoku prefectures. We received great responses, and the “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees Promotion Committee” was newly set up only two months following
the announcement. The committee consists of both forums, tour related industries, six Tohoku prefectures, The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and the federation of Shinkin banks. The committee was assigned some funds by the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to do a research project as one of “Tohoku Restoration Support Projects through Regional Public-Private Entity Partnerships”. In April this year, the National Government (Tohoku
Regional Development Bureau, Tohoku District Transport Bureau) and Tohoku Tourism Promotion Organization have joined the committee as special members.

From the beginning of this year, the committee has been leading the campaign of Tohoku Cherry Blossom Viewing Tours with a prayer for the Tohoku restoration all over Japan, aiming at expanding this community development movement nationwide through tourism. Specifically, in January, the posters of “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees” were put up on the walls of the head or branch offices of 116 Shinkin banks throughout Japan and of tourist associations of each Tohoku
prefecture. In addition to that, Sakura road booklets and Sakura maps were also distributed to promote this project to the public. In the meantime, some of the Shinkin banks developed their own original Sakura Viewing Bus Tours, and some
of the transportation companies and tourist agencies also began to develop their own “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees ” tours. In February, the committee held a photo exhibition of “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees” with the assistance of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government at the Shinjuku Station West Exit Square (The exhibition of “Tama River: Dream Highway of Cherry Trees” was held together.). In spite of the cold weather, more than 7,000 people came in two days and over 500 people answered the questionnaire, in which 93% of respondents answered that after seeing the photo exhibition, they came to want to visit these Sakura viewing spots in the Tohoku region. In addition, the news of the exhibition was broadcasted nationwide. Judging from the amount of inquiries from viewers, a series of promotions seemed to be highly
effective.
On the day marking one year since the great earthquake, among various newspaper articles written on the subject, a major newspaper introduced all of the viewing spots and the map of “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees” on two facing pages. Meanwhile, both Forums’ promotion activities have diversified, including the launch of a dedicated website in March and the publication of an official guidebook in cooperation with a publisher. Three major department stores in the downtown Tokyo held the “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees” panel exhibitions, and a few panels displayed on the window facing the main street of Ginza attracted much attention.

In addition to these, The Beautiful Tama River Forum itself held a recital as an event to support the restoration. It was titled “Stories of the Sense of Beauty of Sakura” and performed by Ms. Keiko Hirano, who is a first rate storyteller as well as the vice president of The Beautiful Tama River Forum. On the 21st of April, the recital was held at Miharu Takizakura (Fukushima Prefecture), the first spot of the pilgrimage tour. Against the backdrop of the illuminated drooping branches with some blossoms swinging gently from the splendid massive Miharu Takizakura (waterfall cherry tree), the show cheered up the earthquake victims, while motivating the visitors to help promote tourism. Our forum decided to hold the annual spring recital in one of six Tohoku prefectures. This event was introduced all over Japan through the public relation magazines of airlines, railways and expressway companies.

Facing the age of a declining population, population of Tohoku is expected to decline inevitably. Therefore, by carrying on with the “Tohoku: Dream Road of Cherry Trees” over the next 10 years, we aim at increasing the number of incoming
people and securing a national movement for Tohoku restoration, before the memory of the disaster fades away. The cherry trees in Tohoku are not only beautiful. Many of these age-old trees are surrounded by unspoiled original Japanese
landscape and sceneries. I strongly believe that they can be the pillar of touristic attraction for both Japanese and foreigners. The restoration of Tohoku is in itself a symbol of Japanese revitalization in the eyes of the foreign countries. And now, the tide of depopulation has crept into the basin of the Tama River as well. We too have to address the challenge of depopulation, which is casting a dark shadow over the community development movement of the future.

Photo Caption: Recital venue, MiharuTakizakura (Fukushima Prefecture)

Special Article 2

GIS Tama River Headwaters Museum (Tama Genryu Museum) Opens

Bunmei Nakamura

Director, Research Institute for the Tama River Headwaters

(1) The first step to make the headwaters visible
In October, 2004, a research project was started by the initiative of Kosuge-village, with coordination among the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the Forestry Agency. It was named
“Recovery of Headwaters: Survey of National Land Focusing on Conservation and Management by River Basin Unit”. And several projects such as “Local History of the Headwaters Project in the 21st Century”, “Visualization of Headwaters
Project”, “Upper and Lower Streams Cooperation Project”, “Forest Recovery Project” and “Headwaters Networking Project” have been developed with the participation of stakeholders of each project.

The objectives of this initiative are: providing headwater basins, which are facing various problems caused by depopulation and aging, with model projects to recover the areas through a basin-wide approach, and taking actions to recover headwater basins throughout Japan by organizing the “Council of National Headwater Basins,” a public organization aiming for recovery of headwaters with coordination among all headwater basins in the country. Additionally, an idea of establishing “The Tama River Headwaters College” was proposed and a committee to realize the idea was formed. At the same time, the participant started research on past relevant projects in the country and discussed the concept of the college that could make the most of the topographical and ecological features in and around the Tama River. This Survey of National Land contributed toward the realization of the Council of National Headwater Basins in November, 2005 and the Tama River Headwaters College in May, 2007. These two organizations have now grown to play key roles in projects aiming for the
recovery of headwaters throughout the country.

While the “Visualization of Headwaters Project” had been carried out for some time without distinctive outcomes, even after some plans were proposed in the Survey of National Land, the idea of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Tama River
Headwaters Museum Plan was presented and the plan was authorized to proceed. It originated from the “Healthy Headwaters Recovery Project” (Cabinet Office Support Project) conducted during 2008-2009 by Kosuge-village. After three
years of assessment and preparation with the support of The Tokyu Foundation for Better Environment, the museum was finally opened on February 1, 2012. We still have some technical challenges, but we were finally able to make a first
step toward the visualization of headwaters.

(2) Introduction of GIS Tama River Headwaters Museum

The Tama River Headwaters Museum houses five areas of information: (1) Tama River Headwaters and its basin, (2) Place names in Kosuge-village and their origins, (3) Water quality of the Tama River basin, (4) Research results of The Tokyu
Foundation for Better Environment, and (5) Activities of “MIZUBENO GAKKO” (waterfront “fun” school).
(1) The information about the Tama River headwaters and its basin covers details of names and origins of streams, cascades and deep pools scattered in Ichinose-Takahashi district of Koshu-city, Tabayama-village, Okutama-town, and Kosuge-village.
Tourist resources, though small in number, are also introduced.

(2) As for the information on Kosuge-village’s place-names and their origins, the details cover eight districts of Nagasaku, Konagata, Shirasawa, Toubu, Nakagumi, Tamoto, Kawaike, and Hashitate, and 114 sub-districts in each district.

(3) The information about the water quality of the Tama River basin contains the results of an inclusive survey of
local rivers conducted by MIZU-TO-MIDORI KENKYUKAI (a group that studies rivers and their surrounding green areas)
and many citizen groups to learn the water quality of the Tama River Water System. The valuable results of 24-year research projects conducted by the organizations are visualized with graphs and COD data (shown in three colors according to the COD stage to help understand the changing process of water quality). It was the first time in Japan that GIS was used to publicize the results of the water quality surveys.

(4) As for the research results of The Tokyu Foundation for Better Environment, the areas of researches in academic category
(298) and general category (199) are divided into four groups, “upstream”, “middle stream”, “lower stream” and “entire area”. Identifying the area researched can be easily done by this grouping.

(5) Regarding the information about activities of MIZUBENO GAKKO, the locations and activities of 18 schools in the Tama River basin are to be publicized. Among them, two schools in Komae and Todoroki areas have already been introduced.

(3) improvement of the system for better GIS

We are now in an environment where we can get a map of any part of Japan by the Google Map internet service. We know, however, that the amount of information provided there varies considerably depending on the location, from the cities
such as Setagaya-ward, and Chofu-city to depopulated villages such as Kosuge-village and Okutama-town Hinohara. When we compare GIS and Google Map services, we can easily understand how valuable the GIS Tama River Headwaters Museum is because we can visually learn various kinds of information there. This system, through which we can obtain visual information about the headwaters whether we are at schools, companies or home, can play a big role in deepening our understanding and a feeling of affinities to the headwaters. We would like to publish more attractive GIS contents such as the headwaters digital photo exhibition and picture books of living creatures in the headwaters so that people can more and more enjoy the headwaters in a relaxed way.

When viewing the museum website, we recommend that you refer to “How to use” and “About the information posted”. We plan to improve our system without delay because at present it can be used only with Microsoft Internet Explorer,
limiting the accessibility to 50% of PC users. The current system also requires some extra steps to go through the website, about which we received complaints saying that to access is difficult and troublesome. With the opening of the museum, we
hope to further help promote the visualization of the headwaters and contribute to the recovery of the Tama River headwaters.

Website address: http://tamagen.into/gen/index.html