The Natural Environment of Yamato Village
updated: mar 10, 2007
- ISHII Syozo
The Wild Bird Society of Japan, deputy manager, Ibaraki branch.
Ibaraki Prefecture environmental advisor
- Looking out over Yamato Village
- When you go outside, take a look around over the scenery of Yamato village. The range of mountains visible to the east is the Tsukuba range, a designated national park. The double peak at the right end of the range is Mt. Tsukuba, with the female peak on the right and the female on the left. You can see a metal tower on the peak of the dominant mountain to the east. On the left side of the tower, the tallest mountain is Tsubakuro-dake, the highest point in Yamato village. It's 701m high. It is known locally as Tsubakurosan, or simply as Tsubakuro. The second peak to the right of the metal tower is Mt. Kaba. It has beech forests left near the peak. It is a leftover from the last ice age. Even from far away, we can see that the top is irregular because of its crown of trees. That is a characteristic of deciduous trees. If you look a long way to the left of Tsubakuro-dake, there is a temple nestling on the mountain. That is Amabiki Kannon. It is a miracle-working temple which protected the empress as she gave birth to the crown prince.
- The nearest, hill-like mountain is Mt. Haneda, which has Yamato junior high school at its foot. The plain that spreads to the west of these mountains is Kanto plain, the largest in the country. In clear weather, you can see all the way to Mt. Fuji. Yamato village is the land where Kanto plain begins.
- If we look back to the Jomon era, around 10,000 years ago, the place we are standing in was the bottom of a sea. The waters reached the edge of the mountains, and the Jomon people lived there. Their presence has been proved by Jomon-style pottery unearthed along the edge of the mountains.
- Yamato village is also recalls Jomon times.
- Now, let's head out to the special open-air exhibition in the village, which is itself an outdoor nature museum.
- Signs of wild birds
- As many as 130 species of birds have been observed in Yamato village. During the period of the sculpture exhibition, it is possible to see about 30 species.
- The most eye-catching of them are the herons which fly to the rice fields. There is a heron species which has scarlet running from its head to the back and chest. It's called amasagi, or cattle egret. The name amasagi comes from its "ame" or amber color. You may have seen scenes of egrets on the backs of water buffalo in television programs about Southeast Asia. Those are actually the same birds. Their home is in Japan.
- Here's another species: The kingfisher. When we cross the Sakura River, look up and downstream. If you're lucky, you might see one of these birds, which people call "flying jewels".
- Field plants
- Wild flowers are blooming around the sculptures. Let's take a look at the flowers which bloom beautifully in this season. There are many small, pink flowers in bloom. They are called hotokenoza : meaning "sitting place for Buddha", or bee nettles. Try pulling the petals off and sucking on the stalk. They have a sweet taste. After tasting it, try blowing on the stalk. It should make a whistling sound. These are the kind of things we used to play with. The hotokenoza that is counted among the seven plants of spring is actually a different plant, which should be called koonitabirako, or Lapsana apogonoides.
- See if you can find some tiny blue flowers, about 2mm across, divided into five petals. They're like forget-me-nots, but much smaller. If you find one, pinch it and enjoy the smell. It smells of cucumber. The flower is called, simply enough, kyurigusa, meaning cucumber grass.
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