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Park on ash
Park and landfill. One the landfill is full it will become a continuation of the park. 99.12.30/ Temperature: 4C/ Weather: Partly cloudy/ Wind Direction: S
Current Location: Nagaoka Park, Utsunomiya City Latitude: 36 N Longitude: 139 E (not available)
Distance Traveled: 0 kmStreets of downtown Utsunomiya are like those of most cities throughout Japan-paved to the beat of Japan's busy car dealerships, department stores, clothes shops, convenience stores, business buildings etc. Located only two kilometers from the glitter of the city and the overwhelming gray of buildings and asphalt is a quaint city park and an interesting citizen movement. Members of Green Trust Utsunomiya and participants from Eco-endo and Environmental Network Tochigi guided me through Nagaoka Park and the Trust's designated preserve area.
Pointing out over the winter brown grass covering a large open space in Nagaoka Park, Mr. Aoki asked me what I thought it was. "An open lawn?" I said guessing. "It is an open lawn but if you dig one meter down into its soil, you will hit a mound of ash. For years, what you now see as a park was a dump for ashes from the municipal incinerator."
Eco-Endo and Green Trust Utsunomiya members play in the irrigation ditch which waters the terraced rice paddies in the spring. Only a few hundred meters into the park I was surprised to learn that the park as well as the municipal ash dump were still enlarging. Just beyond a 1.5 meter temporary wall and down the hill was another ash landfill. "Once this landfill is full, it too will be covered over and converted into a park. This is a fairly common trend in Japan," explained Mr. Endo, member of Green Trust Utsunomiya, a group which is preserving a 12 hectare area next to the park. Working groups within Green Trust Utsunomiya work together to maintain the preserve area as well as make use of its educational value through various workshops and work sessions such as charcoal making, farming, and forest maintenance.
Nagaoka Park appears at first sight to be a beautiful park. Unless told one would most likely overlook the fact that below this used to by a waste management area. As we continued our walk throughout the area, Mr. Ishikawa, owner of a large portion of the Green Trust's preserved area next to the park, commented about the irony of the park as well as the groups efforts to preserve remaining nature in the area. "The park here has been an ash dump for many years now, the city attempted to extend the dumping area, but I refused. Though the city and our trust members are struggling to protect the nature here, sooner than we can react developers have their bulldozers pulling down the forests." We stood at the edge of an area designated by the Green Trust for protection. Where a hillside of forest once stood, a new housing development was already underway.
The paradox of development and nature preservation continued as the day's tour was sped up. The youngest of Eco-Endo members pulled me through planted cedar forests and up onto a hillside overlooking abandoned as well as currently tilled fields. Looking at a map made approximately 80 years ago, we could see that the shape of the fields had not changed at all. Apparently the area was once targeted for large development but suffered economic instability. Thereafter much of the land was sold in small plots to investors hoping to benefit from its close proximity to downtown Utsunomiya. Now over 300 owners are responsible for the randomly divided lot. It is difficult to unify the owners, however a few of them have become member of the Green Trust movement.
Dropping down into the valley we walked along the edge of rice paddies which maintain their shapes created possibly hundreds of years ago. Mr. Aoki explained the importance of the landscape. "Water springing from the forest above has been resourcefully utilized to grow generation after generation of rice. Satoyama (one's country mountain) used to provide fuel for farmers, fertilizer for crops and kept the important source of water flowing to rice paddies naturally. It was also a rich environment for birds, wildlife and beautiful plant life."
Though the Green Trust's efforts to preserve the city's greenery are not problem free, Mr. Ishikawa commented on the importance of protecting the nature of Japan's satoyama. "There is a mental connection to Japan's satoyama. If it were to completely disappear, the mentality of Japan will be a catastrophe It has only been over the last 30 years that Japan's satoyama has disappeared. I am struggling now to see that we pass our Satoyama onto the next generation. I want to challenge the kids of the next generation and see what they will decide to do with what we leave them."
Though the group has the support of the city, problems with land taxes and the high cost of city property continue to be barriers to preservation. Another trust member commented about this, "If city dwellers don't all have the same feeling about preserving satoyama, there is little we can do. That is why we are trying to bring citizens, city assemblymen, and even diet members to experience our preserve. I believe this is the best solution for now."
Both the Nagaoka Park and the Green Trust Utsunomiya preserve area are only a stone throw away from Utsunomiya's downtown area. The park screams of issues with waste management at the same time it reflects an attempt to make the best of a bad situation. The Green Trust Utsunomiya preserve area attempts to protect satoyama close to the hustle and bustle of Utsunomiya.
Both reveal efforts to keep nature part of city life which may in fact be a crucial bit of wisdom for cities in the years to come.
How do you feel about having parks built on top of waste sites? Do you think it's important to preserve nature in the city?
Greg
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