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Time cyclical society
Mr. Nishizawa shares his knowledge of the Asahi forest with kids of the naturalist club. 99.11.21/ Temperature: 8C/ Weather: Partly cloudy/ Wind Direction: N
Current Location: Asahi Mineral Spring, Asahi Town Latitude: N 38 14 19 N Longitude: 139 59 37 E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (Rest day)Quit your job, move to the country, and start your life anew. As overused as this dream may be, it is not so frequently achieved. Mr. NISHIZAWA Toshinobu has managed to accomplish this and create a new idea of community.
Mr. Nishizawa has run the Asahi Mineral Spring and Lodge for over 25 years. He abandoned his life as a salary-man (Japanese businessman) and settled to let himself spread roots in the natural and communal surroundings of Asahi Town. With his interest in and action in Asahi Town since he arrived here as a stranger he has created a unique view of community and activities to match it.
Mr. Okasaka gives the young naturalists a quick brief on Japanese serows. "In order to develop community one must first know one's own community," said Mr. Nishizawa as we sat in the dim-lit dining room of his mineral spring and lodge. Hair hanging just over the rim of his glasses, he grinned widely. "This is where people should start. It doesn't matter whether you are in the city or in the country. People need to live where they live. If you don't know your own community, you have no base to see the world," he said in his rapid manner of speaking. His participation in various community activities as well as the numerous publications he has written, which tell the story of the Asahi Mt. Range area, add weight to his words.
Young naturalists keep their eyes peeled for serows in the surrounding hillsides. "Lately, people talk about creating a cyclical environmental society. I have been thinking lately that a cyclical time society is appropriate in communities," he said. Explaining further he commented, "If people invest in their communities by volunteering their time, their efforts put into the community are bound to be returned. By stocking invested time in one's community, it is bound to lead to the circulation of wisdom. If people volunteer their knowledge and experiences it will get stocked in the community to be passed on. In return the community is active and supports the entire community."
This morning I was able to witness one of Mr. Nishizawa's investments of time in his local Asahi Town.
This morning 6 children and two mothers from Mr. Nishizawa's Naturalist Club gathered to take part in the Japanese Serow Investigation Club's survey of serows (see Wisdom report#069). The young naturalists trotted down the trail and across the bridge into the buna beech forest. After only walking a short distance, the kids decided to search for the source of a trickling stream. This was followed by several quiz questions concerning the natural surroundings (see quiz questions at the bottom of this report). Finally we reached a point where it was alleged that we might spot a serow. The serow which was sighted from above remained hidden in the bush several hundred meters above us. In the meantime, the kids were happy to search for several different types of leaves, flowers, and mushrooms that can be found in their Asahi wilderness. Little did we all know but Mr. Nishizawa and members of the investigation group were hard at work searching for a serow to show the kids.
Making their way through the buna forest to spot serows are kids from the naturalist club. When the day was about to reach its end the kids finally discovered a serow high-up on the hillside across from the lodge. "I see it!" "Me too!" "It's moving." The expressions of awe continued as the kids took turns peering through the telescope. Smiles across the young naturalists' faces attested to the successful close of a day in their woods.
Mr. Nishizawa invested his time today in helping the young members of the naturalist club discover more about the nature of their own community. He closed by saying, "If some of the kids today grow up and remember that there was a man like me they may think, 'I'd like to do the same,' my time invested will come back to me."
Mr. Nishizawa is one example of how to contribute to community. There are bound to be several other ways. What do you all think? Are you ready to start investing time in your own communities?
Greg
Quiz questions.
- A 50-year-old cedar has 50 growth rings at the bottom of its trunk. Do the number of rings decrease or remain the same as you go further up the tree?
- Do trees grow from the inside or from the outside?
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