In the Pines

"Probably with my generation the village will go back to forest." This quote is from an August 23rd Japan Times article by independant journalist, Winifred Bird, in which she offers an account of what she dubs "Japan's creeping natural disaster"--the loss of satoyama 里山 landscape in Japan's rural areas. Find the original article here . In her article Bird points out what I would argue are the two major causes of rural landscape transformation in Japan. The first, heavy over-cutting of mixed and broadleaf forests followed by afforestation using timber varieties in the second half of the last century. The second, rapid urbanization accompanied by mass migration of residents from rural to metropolitan communities. The result has been an unprecedented conversion away from human-managed satoyama landscapes, which fostered a mosaic of diverse eco-tones, to often uniform, un-managed plantation-style forests that are increasingly overgrown. The abandoned hom...

The following is a link to a paper providing a brief overview of my research that I will be presenting during a panel discussion entitled, "Graduate Student Collaborations and Engagements in Environmental Change Research", at the American Anthropological Association (AAA) meetings in San Francisco this month. Take a look if it's of any interest. Socio-natual resilience: Anthropological engagements with environmental change research

On Friday Chizuko and I used our last day of sunshine before the rains of a typhoon expected in the Tokyo area came to go back to the Akazawa National Forest, our favorite spot we've discovered so far. This time we stopped at a place on the river called gomaishura . Shura 修羅 in Japanese means, "timber chute". This particular location was used up until the early part of the 20th century for drawing out logs that had been floated down the river from forests further upstream. The unique rock formations here apparently look similar to stacks of aligned logs that were counted using the character mai 枚; there are five ( go 五 in Japanese) rock layers, hence gomai 五枚. So, altogether the name becomes gomaishura 五枚修羅--five stack timber chute (or something like that). At gomaishura the river flows--tumbles really--down a channel at the bottom of a large outcropping of granite that comprises the river bed. On some of the rock faces, one can still see old drill marks from wher...

Had to run up to Matsumoto yesterday to do some errands. Luckily, the cherry blossoms on the hillsides were in full bloom. Woke this morning to the sound of children yelling "ohayou, Ontake-san"--"Good morning Ontake!". They are part of some sort of program taking place; will have to go check it out today if I get a chance. Later this week the village-owned forests will be closed to all but village residents, who gather edible plants there. Using communal forests is an old tradition in Japan, but one that has been difficult in Otaki due to the high value of their forests for timber, which has brought external control. Today I'm going to be out in the village trying to meet as many people as possible. In a village of 1,000 I'm guessing that news of a foreigner living here has already passed most people's ears. So, I'd better get my face out there so people can start figuring out just what the hell I am doing.