EXCITING YAMANASHI AND MORE

In and around the Togariishi Jomon Ruins Site, more than 200 pit dwellings were excavated. Most of them were estimated to be built in the Middle Jomon period (3500-2500 BCE) over a period of 1000 years. The Togariishi Museum of Jomon Archaeology is a municipal museum located in the city of Chino in Nagano Prefecture, specializing in artifacts of the Jomon period (between 14,000 and 1000 BCE). Its collection includes over two thousand artifacts containing two National Treasures the Venus of Jomon and the Masked Goddess. (https://www.city.chino.lg.jp/site/togariishi/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togariishi_Museum_of_J%C5%8Dmon_Archaeology)

Chino City’s advertising poster on the National Treasures “Dogu (Clay Figurines)” Masked Goddess and Venus of Jomon

Yosuke One (ridge) Jomon Ruins Site: Located next to the Togariishi Site, there were 40 pit dwellings excavated from the latter half of the Middle Jomon period in the Yosuke Ridge Site.

FYI: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm

Lance-leaved tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata) is one of the obnoxious weed species. It is native to North America and considered an invasive alien species in Japan (Refer to the article on 5/18/2022). It seems that it reproduces twice more in Japan than in the native areas.

Yoriko Hatase et al. reported some of their studies. “The Control Effect of Season and Time of Mowing On Coreopsis Lanceolata An Invasive Alien Species” (2010), Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture, 73(5), pp. 421-426. “Restoration Effect of Topsoil Removal on the Herbaceous Community Invaded by Coreopsis lanceolata in the Vegetation of Dry Gravel Riverbeds” (2012), Journal of The Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture, 75(5), pp. 445-450. [Japan Wildlife Research Center, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management]

Similarly, kudzu or kuzu (Pueraria montana), native to Japan and southeast China, is considered an invasive alien species in the United States. It is a terrifying species in the southeastern United States.

Kudzu: The Invasive Vine that Ate the South, The Nature Conservancy (https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/stories-in-indiana/kudzu-invasive-species/). It was brought to the United States in 1876 as ornamental; however, it was used for erosion control from 1930s-1950s, and then it spread.

Kudzu (Pueraria montana in the botanical family Fabaceae) in the United States is like the one-seeded bur cucumber or star-cucumber (Sicyos angulatus in the botanical family Cucurbitaceae, native to eastern North America) in Japan. Although they belong to the different families, both are vine plants and have similar characteristics. And they are notoriously invasive weeds in the two countries.

Sicyos angulatus – Invasive Species of Japan (https://www.nies.go.jp/biodiversity/invasive/DB/detail/80220e.html); Assessing the Ecological Impact of Alien Species and Managing the Risks (https://www.naro.affrc.go.jp/archive/niaes/rp/eng/rp03.html); Sicyos angulatus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicyos_angulatus).

The retrospective exhibition of French sculptor François Pompon has been held at the Yamanashi Prefecture Museum of Art, 4/16-6/12/2022. It has been touring the country since July 2021. François Pompon has been known for his animal sculptures, and his most renowned work is Ours blanc also known as White Bear or Polar Bear in Stride.

From the sculpture garden.

THE BIG APPLE No.45 by Masaaki Sato.

The 9th “Jazz At The Mountain Temple In Mukawa” was held featuring Kimiko Ito with Mayuko Katakura piano quartet at Kaikoma Center Seseragi in the city of Hokuto in Yamanashi Prefecture on May 22. This year the site was a town hall instead of the regular place, the Koryuji Temple. I attended the 4th event and it was fabulous (Refer to the blog note on 5/19/2017). The opening part was presented by a band from the Waseda University New Orleans Jazz Club. The second part was presented by a piano quartet, Mayuko Katakura (piano), Takumi Awaya (bass) and Gene Jackson (drums) with Kazuhiko Kondo (alto and soprano saxophone). In the third part, a singer Kimiko Ito joined the quartet.

FYI: (https://dukesoftware.appspot.com/pianist/Mayuko_Katakura/) (http://www.kazuhikokondo.com/)

An egret was resting in a paddy field in a sunny day.

After a cold, rainy day, it was a hot, summery day. Plants and animals have been very active on the riverbanks of the Arakawa River in the city of Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture.

Lance-leaved tickseed is a designated special alien organism by the Invasive Alien Species Act as a plant that may have a significant impact on the Japanese ecosystem, and cultivation, transportation and sales are prohibited; yet, it has been spreading all over Japan.

Here in the Nagasawa area in the town of Takane, the city of Hokuto, in Yamanashi Prefecture about 500 carp streamers have been floating in the wind hung on the wires over the basin (until May 7). According to a Chinese myth from the late Han Dynasty, there was a golden carp that swam up a waterfall at the end of the Yellow River and became a dragon (Li Ying, Fan Ye et al., Book of Later Han, Chapter 67). So, the carp represents a powerful symbol of perseverance and achieving one’s ambitions in China. There could be about 500 dragons floating in the dirk sky tonight.

Cornus florida, the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering trees native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. Flowering dogwood is a popular tree species chosen for gardens, landscapes and roadsides. There are a lot of roadsides planted with flowering dogwood trees in Japan. Asahi Street in the city of Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture is also known for its flowering dogwood trees. Even the Flowering Dogwood Festival is held in the street every year. The trees were planted earlier than the ones in other streets in Yamanashi Prefecture, so they are tall.

It has been known that the mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, gave the United States 3,000 cherry blossom trees to the city of Washington D.C. in 1912, and then the US government reciprocated with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to Japan in 1915. Since then, the species has been spread throughout Japan.

It is important to eat locally grown produce and foods as much as you can, except those you cannot obtain locally. Locally grown food is usually fresher, tastier and more nutritious than non-local food. It is a key element of sustainable agriculture and may eventually be good for the environment.

FYI: Local food (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food); SQUARE MILE FARMS_ Food for Thought: What are the benefits of eating locally grown food?; Michigan State University: 7 benefits of eating local foods; McGill University: The benefits of eating local foods.

Cooked using locally produced vegetables, Healthy Restaurant Parsley, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 03/31/2022

Cooked using locally produced vegetables, Sakura Chaya, Nirasaki-city, Yamanashi, 03/23/2022

Baked using domestically produced mulberry and crops, Sakura Chaya and Healthy Restaurant Parsley, Yamanashi, 03/31/2022

Sakura Chaya, Nirasaki（http://www.sakurachaya-lapassion.com）and Healthy Restaurant Parsley, Kofu-city (http://www.kusurinosunroad.com/paseri/), Yamanashi, 04/06/2022

Oshino Hakkai (eight seas) is located in the village of Oshino in the Fuji Five Lake region between Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Yamanaka in Yamanashi Prefecture. The eight spring ponds are Deguchi-ike (exit pond), Okama-ike (pot pond), Sokonashi-ike (bottomless pond), Choshi-ike (Choshi pond), Waku-ike (gushing pond), Nigori-ike (muddy pond), Kagami-ike (mirror pond) and Shobu-ike (iris pond). They are fed by infiltration of snow-melt water, filtered down the mountain through porous layers of lava, and it is said that they are connected through the underflow conduit. Naturally, the water is very clear. Oshino Hakkai is included in UNESCO’s Mount Fuji Cultural World Heritage site (Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration), and the eight ponds are 8 of the 25 constituent assets.