Student Council Activities to Conserve the Forest of Keio Senior High School

Yusuke Kushi, Senior High School Teacher

Akifumi Watanuki, 2nd-year Senior High School Student

Taisei Suzuki, 2nd-year Senior High School Student

Watanuki and Suzuki: The Student Council's Environment and Welfare Committee carries out activities for the natural restoration and maintenance of the forest. There are five core members. Since COVID-19, we hadn't been able to do much, but we finally resumed recently. Since the handover of work details hadn't been done, we decided to start from scratch. We asked Tokyu Green, who maintains the Hiyoshi Campus daily, to teach us things like the correct way to use a sickle. We also removed weeds around the seedlings we planted. They also taught us about dangerous plants in the forest. Professor Kinji Fukuyama (Professor Emeritus at Keio University [Faculty of Economics]) also gave us detailed advice, such as places to watch out for due to many bees. The forest became quite overgrown during COVID-19, so we also want to maintain the walking paths so people can walk through.

My first encounter with the Hiyoshi forest was when I was a student at Keio Futsubu School for a science "field note" assignment. At that time, I sketched ferns, and when I looked closely, I was moved by the variety of species and how they take shape to survive longer as individual plants. Also, I was surprised that such a forest exists within a school despite Hiyoshi being a city, and it was unexpected that a proper ecosystem exists there. After doing a little research, I found that before the town of Hiyoshi was developed, the entire area was a mixed forest and the satoyama (woodland) was protected, but that disappeared with development. However, the forest remains properly preserved within the Hiyoshi Campus.

I think this environment, where students and the forest still coexist today, is very precious. Currently, partly because it wasn't maintained during the COVID-19 period, oak wilt has occurred in some parts of the forest. I feel that the speed of natural change is tremendous, even in just two or three years.

We have heard about the history of the Hiyoshi forest many times from Professor Fukuyama. I have also participated in university activities (uni-volan activities).

There are rare plants in the forest. Those areas are not well-maintained, and I feel we have to do something about it. Since plants grow fast, if we don't maintain them properly, things that should be there will disappear. This is something you can only notice because there is a forest right on campus.

We are calling on other students at the high school to participate in forest maintenance. Also, when I talk to people at Uni-Vola, many of them have been active since they were in affiliated schools. I think if all the Keio University affiliated schools work together on forest conservation, we can build connections and it will lead to protecting the environment.

This is from 1952, before post-war reforestation, when Mamushi-dani was a bare mountain. According to Mr. Kushi, it is a photo from an album donated by a graduate to the Senior High School's Archive Committee. It is amazing to think that a large forest grew from reforestation starting here. I want to create a new landscape within this campus. I hope we can properly manage the mixed forest and create a place with unimaginable scenery—where you can find rare plants just by stepping in, and where you can feel at peace when you enter.

To be honest, I feel there are difficult parts to managing this within a high school student council organization. Some plants have become too overgrown to handle. There are even giant hornet queens. Also, there is a lot of bamboo grass, and the cross-sections are very sharp and cut easily, making it dangerous to step on. Since this is a forest that is absolutely necessary for Keio University as a whole, I hope that everyone, including adults, can cooperate to protect it.

I believe it is very important that it remains within the city and the campus as a place where Keio students can easily stop by after proper maintenance and think about various things while being in touch with nature. I want to protect that forest and make it an even more wonderful place.

Mr. Kushi: Since the students are very enthusiastic in their activities, the teachers just support what the students want to do. Since we have only just resumed, I think they will work steadily and regularly from now on. The biggest challenge is the lack of manpower; in particular, many students don't participate because they dislike insects. I want to set up a system where even kids who dislike insects can participate.