Forest Management and Nature Observation at Keio Futsubu School

Tomoki Arikawa

Professor, Faculty of Economics; Lecturer, Keio Futsubu School

The elective class "Futsubu Forest" began around 2001. I first came to Hiyoshi in 2004 as an assistant (on contract) at Keio University, and I have been involved in the Futsubu Forest classes since then, marking 20 years now. To summarize the class content in one sentence, it is the natural restoration of the secondary forest (mixed woodland) on the slopes of Mamushidani. In other words, it is a class where we observe nature while managing the woodland—clearing underbrush, pruning branches, or planting trees like sawtooth oak and Japanese snowbell if any have died. We visit the forest for two hours every Saturday.

Every year, the class always includes a certain percentage of children who love insects and nature, and those students seem to look forward to this class very much. At first, everyone seems to feel a sense of surprise, realizing that this forest is larger and more expansive than they imagined, thinking, "It really is a forest." Even students who are not used to the forest at all gradually become accustomed to it, and those who couldn't touch insects at first eventually become able to do so.

I truly feel that students acquire various things while moving their bodies in the forest for about two hours, rather than through classroom lectures, experiments, or observations indoors. They clear underbrush and prune side branches. They even cut down standing trees. Repeating this makes them exhausted by the latter half of the class. Learning how to prune branches and clear brush through physical experience is very important for learning about nature, and I believe doing this continuously every week amidst the changing seasons is an invaluable experience. By doing it every week, students understand the speed of plant changes as a tangible reality. They feel the rapid growth of grass and the replacement of plants in what feels like a race against weeding.

It seems that students also learn from each other. For example, a child whose interest was specialized in insects expands their range of interests by hearing from children who like plants or mushrooms. There are also cases where ordinary students, who initially kept their distance from the hardcore insect lovers, spend time together every week and eventually find it normal and blend in.

I also feel the unique benefits of Keio's affiliated schools, which connect Keio Futsubu School to Senior High School and then to the biology labs at the university. In my university class this year, there is a student who took the Futsubu class. On the first day of class, they showed me the notebook they had submitted every week four years ago when they were at Futsubu. I feel that connections are being made well in these areas. Furthermore, for graduates, it is very meaningful to encounter the trees they planted during their Futsubu classes once they become university students. Some even join the officially authorized student club "uni-volante," which manages the forest, and come to help with weeding. We are all nurturing this Hiyoshi forest together.

Since we have been planting seedlings since 2002, I can show them, saying, "This is a tree your seniors planted." There is a sense of wonder that comes precisely because we have continued, and we can also think about how the forest is formed while comparing it to 20 or 10 years ago. Also, by continuing, we understand how the forest itself changes, and we can feed that back into education. Restoration has been achieved from a neglected state, and now, a quite pleasant secondary forest has been created in some parts.

Junior high school students are completely different from the detached attitude of university students; their reactions are direct and interesting. This is an experience I wouldn't get if I only taught at the university, and I am learning a lot myself. Currently, university students know almost nothing about the forest, so I hope the significance of the richness of the Hiyoshi forest will spread throughout the entire university in the future.

One slight concern is that old and giant trees, such as sawtooth oak and konara oak, have been affected by oak wilt over the past three years, and some areas are becoming desolate. However, learning about such things as natural phenomena is also valuable. It is very gratifying to be able to learn about these things on-site in daily classes. The Hiyoshi forest exists as a place where we can also talk about the state of Japanese forestry and satoyama.