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Protecting through our Daily Lives
Mr. Takedatsu and Mr. Sekino 99.09.21/ Temperature: 10C/ Weather: Cloudy /Wind Direction: SW
Start: Koshimizu Shrine, Koshimizu/Latitude: 43 55 17 N/Longitude: 144 28 53
Destination: Highland Koshimizu Campground, Akan National Park/Latitude: 43 42 35 N /Longitude: 144 21 01
Distance Traveled: 15 kmMyself, Mr. Sakino, two of his friends, Mr. Takedatsu and one of his students, all huddled on the floor around Mr. Takedatsu's dinner table talking and munching on such delicious things as wheat misoand fresh Hokkaido potatoes covered with salted fish innards.
I was so glad to be able to continue to converse with Mr. Takedatsu about what he and his group in Okhotsk Village have been doing since there start 35 years ago. "Eighteen years ago, some friends of mine and I had a crazy idea. Someone was planning to turn 30 hectares of forest into farmland, but we thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to buy the land and preserve it as forest." Before they knew it, Mr. Takedatsu and his friends in the Koshimizu Talking with Nature Group had put down a large sum of money and called out to people all over Japan to help them in there pursuit to save the forest. Their efforts made them the second group in Japan to become a natural environment preservation corporation founded on the national trust movement. In other words, many people pitched in money out of their own pockets to help preserve the forest, which would be managed by Okhotsk Village and the Koshimizu Talking with Nature Group.
After many kilometers by the sea, I head inland towards the mountains ofAkan National Park Just when Mr. Takedatsu and the Koshimuzu Talking with Nature Group had settled down after purchasing their first piece of land and had many people coming from near and for to help plant more trees, a piece of land next to Okhotsk Village went up for sale. "I couldn't believe it, but we got crazy again and bought that piece of land too," said Mr. Takedatsu..
The start of Okhostk Village was based on the group's impulse to action and the strong will of Mr. Takedatsu, his friends and many national trust donors from all over Japan. "We just asked people to help out, and it worked."
The village started with creating artificial forests and has grown to include the processing of cow manure and urine along with other environmental education activities (See Wisdom Report#008). Throughout all of the activities there is one common thread, and I was able to speak with Mr. Takedatsu about this.
"Our ideal is to confirm what is regular or normal," he said.
"In Japan, the Japanese Crane is very well protected. People know its habitat, eating habits, migrating patterns, everythingc But nobody knows how many frogs it takes for the cranes to live or how much soil it takes for the crane to live. This is what we are doing, learning about the little things."
Everything that I have learned from my visit with Mr. Takedatsu points in the direction that it is impossible to deny our daily life and daily behavior when thinking about the environment. "There are no shortcuts," says Mr Takedatsu, "we go the long way around to find solutions." It is from the people in Okhotsk Village finding these solutions in their daily lives that has created such an interesting movement to "protect the normal."
I'm not sure how normal my days will be for the next several months but I will try to put what I have learned to good use on our journey.
Geography and Bear Update I headed inland for the first time on this trip. The further I progressed, the deeper the green of the forest and the more bear warnings. I was cautioned twice today about bears and one woman told me that she had just been faxed by a friend telling her to be careful because a bear had been spotted on the other side of the mountain.
I put my bear bell (givin to me by friends) on my pack with no hesitation and made sure that it would jingle loudly.
Greg
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