Autumn Leaves at the Ushiku Daibutsu Statue

Autumn is here and the red leaves viewing season has started! Japanese love nothing more than the changing of the seasons so they take their autumn tree viewing almost as seriously as with the cherry blossom viewings in the spring. There are even companies organizing commercial bus tours to the best places to see the nature of Japan in its autumn glory! I took these photos at the great Ushiku Daibutsu statue in Ibaraki Prefecture last year.

Asakawa River – 1

If you haven’t actually spent much time in Japan you might not understand my almost strange obsession with natural spaces. Tokyo is the largest city in the world and seen from above it is just one entire huge swath of glass, steel, concrete and tarmac stretching from east to west. When you live in the middle of it for a few years like me, you start feeling like it is endless. This concept of the city as the normal universe has crept into the Japanese language to such a degree that the word countryside in everyday conversation here in Tokyo (inaka) denotes a place that still has a population density higher than the majority of European capitals. The word wilderness, the fact that there are places where there just are no people or buildings just doesn’t enter the mind of a typical Tokyoite. Talk about being lost in translation.
Last weekend I had a few hours off and decided to see what was the wildest place I could find that was still accessible by bus and and train from central Tokyo and looking over a map I settled on visiting Hachioji, the de-facto capital of western Tokyo.

Now, most Tokyo people will tell you with a haughty tone in their voices that Hachioji is “the sticks”, the boondocks, home of Tokyo’s rednecks. The city still has a population of almost 600 000 and a population density of almost 3000 per square kilometer. For comparison, London has about 4700 persons per square k. Not bad for “the sticks”. From the station I got picked up by a good friend in a black boxy car and we went straight for Asakawa river, a place that is so wild that even though my friend had lived withing 5km of it for 29 years she had never been there. It was on my map though.

What do you think, isn’t it just beautiful? This truly was teatime for a tired soul. Two hours sitting by that river healed me better than a week in any resort hotel in the world.

Asakawa river starts end ends in Tokyo, technically, merging with Tamagawa as it enters the city proper. It is also probably the only river in greater Tokyo that isn’t completely regulated by dams and concrete. It’s heaven for amateur geologists as well – the rock sediments are gorgeous and fossil trees and even elephants come up every now and then. I didn’t bring my fossil collection kit but if any traveling geologists or paleontologists are visiting Tokyo – give me a call! I’ll take you out there for sure. Enjoy!

A Trip Down Arakawa River

As I mentioned earlier in a couple of posts about the western parts of Saitama prefecture I spent a little time on or near Arakawa River (I know kawa means river but it seems easier to be specific with geographical names in English). The river’s name means “Wild River” but after being used to seeing much further downstream in Tokyo I always thought the name was a little bit over the top. Luckily, it is a tad bit wilder up in Saitama where it also originates. From the pictures you wouldn’t believe it when I tell you that it eventually becomes the biggest river in Japan: 2537 meters at its widest point.

If you go to Chichibu and then a few stations up the line to really get into deep Saitama you can catch one of the river cruises. The cruise is a good way to see a different part of Japan than the concrete of Tokyo, but it is a little bit short: it is announced as lasting about 30 minutes but with the rapid flow of the river at any other point in time than in near drought season, the tour is much shorter than that. Still, it was worth every yen to see the scenery around the river.

Now, it should be known by now that I am not a good nature photographer. I have no idea how to make cliffs and whirling water look interesting so forgive my rather bland photos. I did manage to get some wildlife and two ridiculously handsome Saitama Prefecture River Police officers. It that the best job in the world? Considering that they spend a lot of the day watching over water-inexperienced tokyoites in mini-bikinis at the other side of the river. Great job, if you can get it.

Oh, and please, if you can identify the species of bird in the last picture I would be very happy indeed!