In old days when people lived around nature, mountains and forests
adjoining farm and villages were used as resources for materials such as wood
and bamboo, water for rice paddies, and wild vegetables and fruits. These areas
were regularly maintained by the locals, taking care of trails, waterways and
pruning trees. As a result, semi-nature areas which were different from
complete wildness appeared. Many local elders say there were tons of tadpoles
in spring, countless fireflies in summer, gorgeous coloring foliage with wild
fruits and nuts in autumn, so the semi-nature areas were their favorite
playgrounds in their childhood―
Recently people started to call these areas “Satoyama”, and it is
receiving attention in terms of nature preservation. However, now people’s life
styles have changed a lot. Therefore, many of former Satoyama-areas have been
neglected for years.
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Over the many hills in Hachioji, which is located in the western edge of Tokyo, there is a hidden Satoyama field
that looks just like a traditional semi-nature area in old yore. A man, who is
mainly supervising the field, retired more than a decade ago, and got an idea
to work on an abandoned rice field near his house to get back a beautiful view
of Satoyama just like old days. He got a permission from local land owners,
then started to maintain 2000 m2 (22 thousand ft2) of
land.
He
irrigated the dried “Yato” (a local word for small valleys often used as water
sources for rice paddies in old times) and made a tiny rice paddy. After water
came back to the field, it kept overflowing the rice paddy and was absorbed
into the field gradually over the years. The natural water flow re-created tiny
creeks, ponds, wet land, and dry land in the field, then slowly aquatic life
and aquatic plants came back to the diverse surroundings. He watched it over
for years as he maintained the water flow and plants’ growth.
Today, there are tons of snails in the
water and they are good food for firefly larvae and therefore the field is now
known as the best local spot to see glows of fireflies in summer. Many kinds of
flogs lay eggs in spring and tadpoles fill the small ponds for a while. Various
creatures come to eat them then it brings more biodiversity to the field.
What’s more, habitats for Tokyo Salamanders (photo on the next page), which is
designated as an endangered species by the Ministry of the Environment, have
been recovered here, and hundreds of them come to the ponds to lay eggs.
The man says “I just maintain the area a
little. Well, it actually took many years initially to understand what kind of
condition they prefer. Now I occasionally adjust the water flow and mostly I
enjoy watching them.”
Tokyo salamander is an amphibian, so they
came out of the ponds and leave to hills after they grew up. However, they
remember the water they were born and come back to the home-water when they lay
eggs just like salmons. They are very sensitive with the condition of water
when laying eggs so that ponds in well-preserved nature is essential to make
them increase their number. Since many of them come back to this Satoyama field
every year it proves that this place is providing very safe spawning ponds to
them. On the other hand, the numbers of salamanders are in decline in many of
other Tokyo salamanders’ habitats in Hachioji.
Although there are more endangered
creatures and plants can be seen here, the man said with a smile “I don’t think
this location is special. If you have an eye you may be able to find same rare
creatures and plants, which people thought they were gone, in some other local
spots. Because they are native to this area and spontaneously recovered the
numbers here.”
However, managing of the area by checking
each plant or maintaining optimal conditions for many creatures are clearly not
easy. Hard and steady work and observations, great affections and curiosity for
wild life and plants keep this Satoyama beautiful…
