森再生　Revert

This week we got some visitors to the mountain. They are fishing-pals of my father-in-law and they are cement masons by trade(I think). We have enlisted their help in order to lay down what will be the foundation of our cabin in the future. Both of them were quite funny and it was a great chance for me to practice and listen to the countryside version of Shizuoka accent.







Normally I understand about anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of regular Japanese. However, once my father & mother-in-law starts speaking in their local dialect, the level of understanding quickly drops...>_<
some examples that I have recently learned include:

Regular Japanese / Shizuoka Accent / English
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Warui (悪い) / Ozoi (おぞい) / Bad (As in quality)
Katai(硬い) / Kowai (こわい) / Hard/Tough
Ooki (大きい) / Ikai (いかい) / Big/Large
Samui (寒い) / Sabui (さぶい) / Cold
Attakai (温かい) / Nukutoi (ぬくとい) / Warm

And the ever so popular
Yawarakai (柔らかい) / Mirui (みるい) / Soft/Fresh(Usually used to describe farm products)

I will try to remember/learn more as time goes...
If anybody has more examples of Shizuoka accent to add, please feel free to add some comments!!

  

After a few months of "hard" work, we have finally finished our planting project!! The Final Total includes:

6000 Japanese Cypress (ヒノキ)
300 Japanese Maple (イロハカエデ)
100 Mountain Cherry (ヤマザクラ)
10 Ginko Biloba (イチョウ)
10 Zelkova (ケヤキ)
10 Flowering Dogwood (ハナミズキ)
10 Japanese Beech (ブナ)
10 Dawn Redwood (メタセコイヤ)
10 Fir (モミノキ)
10 Norway Spruce (ドイツトウヒ)
10 Japanese Walnut (オニグルミ)
10 Walnut (カシグルミ)
10 Chestnut (クリ)
10 Hardi Kiwi (サルナシ)

It was tough work, but at the same time it was alot of fun. The quietness of the mountain was very soothing. Our next project there would be a small cabin, so that we can stay over night and camp there.

Here is a picture of the mountain before we finished planting



And a picture of it after planting.


  

I guess I have been a bit lazy lately.... the last update was about 2 months ago... Sorry everyone!
This month, we have renewed our planting effort on the mountain. As of today, we have only 600 saplings left to plant (roughly a day of work for a crew of 3). Hinoki planting aside, we have had a chance to check on the cherry trees that we have planted during the spring. I am happy to report that they are all alive and healthy! Thanks again for everyone's effort.



  

After the cherry trees were planted, we proceeded to phase 2 of our planting project. This phase involves the planting of 6000 hinoki trees. We started planting on Monday the 16th of March, after the cherry tree planting "party". The first day was tough going as usual, with alot to learn and watch out for. but after the second day of planting I think we all got the hang of it and our pace quickened.
I found planting very therapeutic. If offers one alot of time for silent contemplation. Sounds quite zen actually.... But it is also great just to be surrounded by nature, and to listen and feel the sounds and moods of the mountain.

As of the end of today (March 27th), we have finished planting tree number 1750. Which means we are 29 percent complete!

Here is a picture of my dad hard at work taken by my mom. They have come all the way from Canada to help with this project. THANKS!!




Here is a brief description of Hinoki on Wikipedia:
hamaecyparis obtusa (Japanese cypress, Hinoki cypress or Hinoki; Japanese: 檜 or 桧, hinoki) is a species of cypress native to central Japan.
It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown. The leaves are scale-like, 2-4 mm long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The cones are globose, 8-12 mm diameter, with 8-12 scales arranged in opposite pairs.
It is grown for its very high quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines, traditional noh theatres, table tennis blades and baths. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant.
For example, Horyuji Temple and Osaka Castle are built from Hinoki wood. The hinoki grown in Kiso, used for building Ise Shrine, are called 御神木 Go-Shin-boku "Tree where god stayed".
It is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates, including western Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow leaves, and forms with congested foliage. It is also often grown as bonsai.
  

2 weeks ago on Sunday, we started phase 1 of the planting project! On this day, my wife, my family, and some friends planted 100 cherry trees on our property. (Sadly, I was not able to make it there due to work) It looked like everyone had lots of fun. Hopefully in a few years, we can all gather there again and enjoy the cherry blossoms. Thanks everybody!!!





  

On the 14th of March, we went for a stroll down Sengen-dori. It was once the centre of commerce in Shizuoka, with shops lining both sides of the street. Now a days, there are more shops that are closed then open. It is a sad sight, but over the last few years, attempts have been made to revitalize the once bustling street. A collection of individuals have started a Saturday farmers` market on this street. Right now it still only has a few stalls, but hopefully in the future, more people will become aware of this market and resulting in more participation of shoppers and shops.
The Dorayaki (Japanese dessert with sweet red bean paste sandwiched between 2 small pancakes) shop on Sengen-dori is excellent. The shop owner displays his masterful dorayaki making skills once everyday. It is a great excuse to visit the Sengen-dori!





  

My parents came to Japan on March 10th. My wife and I went to Nagoya to pick them up. On the way back to Shizuoka, we stopped off at Okazaki to do a bit of sight seeing at Okazaki castle. It is the birth place of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The original Okazaki castle was built in 1455. It was demilished in 1873 during the Meiji Restoration. Then in 1959, it was rebuilt to original specifications (Out of concrete). The area surrounding the castle is a beautifully treed lot. It was a nice pitstop before coming back home to Shizuoka.


  

Over the last few weeks, we have had a few pressure systems pass over Shizuoka and as a result, we have had a few windstorms. Last week I went up to the mountain to continue our grass cutting and was surprised when our BBQ pit\shelter has been blown apart! I guess it was REALLY windy there....
Looks like we are going to need a more permanent shelter... a good project for the next month.



  

Last Friday I went for a quick bike ride near my home. I heard from one of my friends that one can get a great view of Shizuoka city and Mt. Fuji from a local temple called Tokuganji. That is what I set out to find. Surprisingly, not alot of people know about it. After searching for the location on google, I got a printout of the map and was ready to go. The ride itself took about 30-40 minutes, with the last 5 to 10 minutes being a semi-painful uphill ride. Going down was a blast though (If you pay attention to cars coming the other way). The view was truely beautiful at the temple. One could get a spectacular view of Abe river, Shizuoka city, and Mt. Fuji. The Temple itself was completely deserted... The resident ducks were very friendly. I find it a very good place for silent contemplation... If you don't mind sitting in the middle of a beautiful graveyard...











  

Last week, my brother in law appeared on national (NHK) evening news. He was interviewed for some products of his company. They specialize in wooden furniture and home decor. It would not be surprising if we start to see more of their products in the North American market. 2 years ago, they presented some of their work (home decor) to the Japanese royal family for their residence.... Pretty impressive!

  

This is something from a while back. I was walking towards Shizuoka station from the university when I saw this vending machine on the side of the road. Of all things, it sells rice in 10kgs... It was my first encounter with a rice vending machine...


  

Over the winter vacation, we realized the short comings of cooking in open air. So, we set off recently to build a temporary shelter/BBQ area. The "building" consists of about 10 logs and some recycled wavy metal boards. The whole project took us about 2 hours not including painting... This is what the end result looks like. It`s not the prettiest, but it does the job fine. We are now looking forward to using it in the Summer for camping.


  

After the winter vacation started, we dedicated almost everyday to the clearing of the mountain with the exception of New Year's eve and New Year's Day. So far we have cleared roughly 1 hectare of the intended planting area. It was pretty hard work battling the thorny bushes and the tall grass, and we have gained a collection of scratches and and bruises... Personally it did feel nice to be working outside all day though...






After going back to work on January 6th, I received an offer to work with my in-laws for a few days in Izu. They have received a contract wo clear the top of a hill for the construction of a digital TV receiving station. Having not doen any travelling after arriving in Japan, I took their offer enthusiastically. On the day of the contract, I was picked up at 6 in the morning and we headed out to Shusanji in Izu. We arrived at roughly 8 in the morning and started falling trees in order to creat a 2 meter wide path for the monorack tracks. This took up most of the first day.






After the trees were downed, they had to be trimmed and cut into sections. We separated the konara oak from the other trees and line them up on the side of the path, becaust the konara oak can be used for growing shitake mushrooms. At the end of day 1 we have made our way almost to the top of the hill.






On day 2 we started clearing a 20m square area on the top of the hill. This took the whole morning and we spent the afternoon clearing up the downed trees.



We ended up finishing the contract at the end of day 2. It felt really nice to be out of Shizuoka city for a change...



Here is a picture of my in-laws


  

Happy New Year Everyone!

Slowly but surely, we are moving towards the planting season in March. One of the tasks that needs to be done on the mountain is to clear the area that we are preparing to plant of tall weed, so we have decided to dedicate our entire winter vacation to this task...



Over the X-mas break, My father-in-law and I started the clearing on our property. It looks like a bigger job than we anticipated. (I guess the lack of new sign-ups at work will actually work out to our advantage...)



For the first few days it was really slow going. We have deceided to start about 300m down from the top of the property and managed to clear an area of about 200m square on the first day. (Our final goal is to have 2 hectares/20,000sq M cleared this year for planting) 1% done, Yay!... I think we might have to step up the pace when New Years break starts...



Winter vacation started for me on December 29th. After work on that day, my wife and I traveled to her home town for a local New Year party with everyone in the village. It was lots of fun and in the bingo contest that ensued, we managed to take home a box of instant miso soup, a picnic basket, some work gloves, and a towel. (Woohoo!!)



  

Happy Rememberance day everyone! On this day, please don't forget to give thanks and remember those that have came and sacrificed before.
Haven't updated recently because we haven't been up to our property over the last few weeks. Here's a quick run down of what we did in the last little bit.
The weekend after we built the short retaining wall, we went volunteering with a local organization. Our goal for that weekend was to maintain trails and place name tags for the trees in the area. It was a lot of fun, and we got to do a little bit of mushroom hunting as well.



The week after that, my wife and I volunteered for the Daidogei world cup festival in Shizuoka. We were responsible for keeping Sunpu Park clean, along with a crew of roughly 30 people. Although we only got to see a few of the performances, it was nevertheless fun to walk around and just enjoy the atmosphere of the event.



Last weekend, we went up to my wife's former elementary school to see the harvest festival there. My mother in-law has entered a few products in the competition there. In the end, she won 3rd place for her turnips and a gold medal for her wasabi cream cheese. It was also at that event where I was introduced to the village head. He was quite a friendly (though business-like) person. I listened to him talk about the problems facing the mountain areas of Shizuoka city. The Tamakawa area of Shizuoka city, similar to a lot of outlying areas of Japanese cities, is experiencing an outflow of young people. As a result, many of these "villages" have an average population age of between 60~90 years. It is not hard to imagine that in another 20 or 30 years, many of these small communities will all but disappear, leaving ghost towns dotting the country sides of Japan... Quite sad really... There must be something that we can do...  

Last weekend we saw some really nice weather. It was perfect for constructing our retaining wall.



The previous owner had also made a retaining wall on the same site out of old tyres. It was falling apart and an eyesore at the same time. That is why we have decided to make a new one out of wood.



We arrived in Yokosawa at around 9 in the morning to meet up with my father-in-law at a local log house café. He had already transported all of the logs from our other work site in the mountains over to where we needed them, and he has also brought his excavator with him. (This proved to be a huge help later on, as the extra chainsaw that he brought saved us from having to go home and fetch another chain when it snapped on our saw 2 hours in…) After briefing, we set off to work.

First of all, we measured out some logs to be cut in to stakes. Right after we have cut the first few stakes, an unexpected help arrived. A young logger living in Ikawa who is an acquaintance of my wife has turned up with full gear to help, after reading on our blog that we were going to build the retaining wall today. (It was great to have 2 professionals onsite.)



After all of the stakes were cut, we started pounding them in at a set distance. For some reason, it was really hard going. We had to dig first with a rock bar, pound the stakes in a bit, and finish the pounding with the excavator.

With the stakes set, we moved all of the logs into position and secured them with thick wire. In total, it took the 4 of us roughly 6 hours to finish the retaining wall. We managed to finish just around 3PM. (I think it would have taken much longer if the extra help didn’t show up.)



All in all, the wall was our first “physical” project on the property, It was tough work, but good just to be out in the mountains on a nice autumn day. I think one of future projects will be to plant some trees along the wall that we’ve built…



This was our work crew today.
From left to right: Friend from Ikawa, my father-in-law, my wife Etsuko, and yours truly.


  

Right now the weeds and wild flowers are in full bloom, so there isn’t much that we can do in terms of maintenance on our property. (It is much more efficient to leave it until November and December when most of the weeds have died down.)



My wife, my father in law and I have been planning a few different projects that we can do right now to prepare for the tree planting in the winter. First of all, we need to build a wood retaining wall on the lower side of our property. Second of all, we are planning to build a small cabin/rest area for the Winter/Spring planting season.



For the construction of the retaining wall, we need roughly 90 pieces of peeled logs (2.5~3m long X 10~20cm dia.) That was what we did over the last weekend. In the end, we peeled 92 logs over a 3 day period… Although it was tough work, we did get to BBQ almost everyday. (Actually, we didn’t have a choice... there wasn’t a kitchen setup at the logging site >_<)


  

After unexpectedly buying land in Japan while on vacation. We returned to Canada and prepared for our “migration”. First we moved from our lovely accommodation in Whistler, BC back to my hometown of Ladysmith, BC. It was pretty emotion for both my wife and I, having lived and worked in Whistler since 2001.




After arriving back in Ladysmith, we set about planning a garage sale in order to rid ourselves of our “excess baggage “. It was our first time planning a garage sale, so we teamed up for a joint sale with a long time neighbour who was moving away. It was a lot of work but well worth it for the fun that we had. As a result we came away from the sale with a lot less stuff and a little more money.


  

February, 2008

We purchased a parcel of land in the community of Yokosawa. It is roughly 11 hectares. It was completely logged about 3 years ago and the previous owner had just left it as-is without any replanting.

For us, while it meant endless potential, it also means a lot of work replanting.

  

On his way back from work in the mountains, my father in-law spots a

“Land for Sale”

sign standing on the side of the road next to a big empty lot.

The memory of the attempt by a big company to build an industrial waste site in the area was still fresh in everyone’s minds. After a discussion with my father in law and several of the villagers, we decided that we need to protect the area and get it off the market as soon as possible.

As a result, 3 days after the sign was sighted, my wife and I became “Landowners”.