MUSASHINO Coppice Woods And Sustainable Recycling Agriculture

From west to northwest of Tokyo spreads a vast plateau-like plain called Musashino Uplands. Today the plain has altered to an ever sprawing suburban residential area so that its potential nature is not clearly observable. The uplands are a part of Kanto Plain, but a little higher than lower alluvial plain, so their natural enviroinment exhibits a rather different look from the typical farm villages with rice paddies. Musashino is a tableland where no waters are found, not even a tiny stream. You might be surprised since Japan is a water-rich country. But not here. Rain falls, of course, but it will be completely absorbed in the earth and no trace will be left. People were forced to make great effort to make living in the old days. Actually people did not live here until about 300 years ago; unimaginable from today's crowded condition.

Well-Known Coppice Woods What made Muasashino region well-known were its coppice woods called zokibayashi. In Meiji period (about 100 years ago), writers found beauty in this deciduous woods. They praised its tranquility, especially in the winter, when leaves have fallen and they could ramble freely through the woods. Musashino's coppice woods are fun to walk through. First because unlike woods in other parts of Japan, they are completely flat. You do not need to gasp on slopes nor sweat heavily. Second, their floors were scrupusously swept, so the ground was smooth and easy to walk. Third, the area's population was scarce in the old days, and the inside the woods it should have been very nice and tranquil.

Coppice Woods And Agriculture Musashino Uplands had long been regarded as undesirable for agriculture because of poor soil and lack of water. In order to enrich the soil, people devised a unique style of farming. They combined farming fields and coppice woods as one set, and gathered fallen leaves from the woods and made compost out of it, and put it in the soil to make a fertile famland.

People made a unique land arragement as well. Houses are located along the vilage street, fields are locaed next to them, and woods further away. The arrangement is quite efficient, since the fields where farmers work everyday are located near the house, and less often used woods are located further away.

Self-Sustainable Recyling Agriculture Besides the use of leaves for compost, trees also had use as wood. The dominant trees of the woods are oaks (Japanese small oak), and oaks make a very good firewood. The woods had an important role in preventing north wind as well. Compost is not just left untended. It generates heat, and the heat is utilized to grow seedlings of seet potatos in the early spring, when the air is still cold and there is risk of frost. Even the tiny woods surrounding the farmhouse had use for construction of houses and production of furniture. There was no useless part in anything.

Sad to say, the traditional coppice woods are mostly gone. And the remaining woods are not well taken care of. As a result, the trees have grown tall, thicket has bocome dense. You would not feel like walking through the dark and dense woods of today. But there are some remains of the woods. Heirinji, a zen temple in Niiza, keeps traditional coppice woods, and its woods are designated as a natural monument by law. (Its woods are the only zokibayashi (coppice woods) designated as natural monument). Some large parks (e.g. Koganei Park) have some remaining woods.

Kanto Plain is known for strong north wind in the winter. People in Musashino were annoyed by dust blown from farming fields. Coppice woods had an important role in preventing the wind. Today, after the woods are gone, the dusty north wind seems to become worse in some areas. Learn how well-balanced people managed to keep the natural environment in the old days!

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