The Forest Beckons with the Bright Green of May

Diary 2009.5.17

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投稿者:Toru Nakahara

Green Valley was established in November of 2004. To commemorate the founding, we started the Awafu forestry management program the following March. We get a work party together and go into the woods once a month.

It is in these woods that many of the invited KAIR artists have land art installations. Recently we’ve started taking the May forestry management day off and using the time for a hiking trip.

Hunting for warabi.

There’s a facility in the deepest part of Kamiyama, near Kawai Pass, called Shangri-la. The land is owned by the mayor of Ishii, Mr. Kono. We were allowed to use the facility for free again this year. After we arrived, we left our bags at the building and set out in search of some warabi.

Anya had her first experience picking warabi...

Our master of the forest, Mr. Higashidani, owns the nearby mountain where warabi can be found growing. He went up a week before we did and cleared the ground of long grasses, and there was lots of warabi to be found.

Over forty people came to participate in the event. The people who came from out of town who had never gone warabi picking before were really excited by the experience. There were lots of little children around, and we all had a good time. We spent about an hour and were able to find lots of warabi.

Thank you so much to Mr. Higashidani for going up in advance and preparing the land for us.

After picking warabi, it was time for lunch!

We returned to the outdoor facility and it was time for lunch. The main dish was yakisoba. This time it was Kuniko’s team who made it, along with some delicious rice balls and other things for everyone.

Onigiri, inari sushi, and lots of fruit!

Food tastes great when you’re up in the mountains surrounded by the beautiful bright green new leaves of May. We also ate some delicious seasonal greens: tsukushi and itadori.

The kids all ate a lot!

I hadn’t seen Koromo-chan in ages – she’s gotten so big!

We ate our fill and then set out to climb the nearby mountain, Amagyo-san.

If you go through the Kawai Pass tunnel, you’ll see a white shrine. The shrine is a good place to see the shidare-zakura cherry blossoms in April. You can see as far as Mt. Tsurugi from the observation platform. It’s a gentle 1.3km ascent to the top of the mountain from the shrine.

It was my first time to climb Amagyo-san, and it was a very interesting little hike. The new leaves on the trees were nearly blindingly bright.

About thirty minutes to reach the top.

The youngest member of today’s group was just two and a half years old. Everyone worked hard and had a great time. At the peak of the mountain, there’s a steep rock face with a chain leading down it. Just looking down at it makes my legs feel like they’re going to give out.

Lots of buddhist statues on the mountainside near the peak. Very nice atmosphere.

Chalice was picking up fallen pine branches all the way up the path. I asked her if she was going to make them into an art object, and she said she would.

For my first artwork...

Yep. This is that contraversial mascot from Nara, Sento-kun.

We had a really fun day. We all went our separate ways at Shangri-la. I think the children particularly had a good experience.

I wonder what we should plan for next year! Thank you everyone for a job well done.

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Toru Nakahara

KAIR & GreenValley supporter (~2012)

Articles by Toru Nakahara

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