TsukuBlog

Those of us involved in trying to have Tsuchiura’s lotus root farmers take down their deadly bird-ensnaring nets have been making efforts to rescue as many birds as possible from slow starvation, until that end is achieved.

We have become, however, metaphorically and quite literally, stuck in the mud. First, there are the technical problems which need to be dealt with. These are: slogging through waist high muck which in this season is covered with a sheet of ice and makes the going very slow and dealing with the entanglements themselves which can be amazingly complex and even more time consuming as we do not want to damage property by cutting the nets.This is exacerbated by the weight of the birds themselves with makes the nets harder to deal with.

Maurice, who drives the long way from Iwama to look for and save living danglers has applied his ingenuity to making our activities more efficient. He has bought chest-high waders, has found tools useful for untangling knots, has found that covering the birds with a sack calms them down, and has developed a sling which takes the birds weight off of the entanglement.

Even for Maurice, the going is still very slow and we need more volunteers. We thought that an article in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper would give some publicity which would help our cause. Even though the reporter showed an interest in the problem and in what we were doing and was generally quite sympathetic, the subsequent article left us highly disappointed in that it didn’t mention many of the crucial points related to the issue. There was also no mention of our volunteer activities.

One reason for this might be that many Japanese are currently upset and emotional about the foreign protesters who boarded their whaling ships. If this is the case, it was very bad timing for us.

Though we have had many disappointments, we are not about to give up. We will continue to push for changing the situation. Many other publications besides Asahi Shimbun have shown an interest in this problem and we will continue to appeal to the public. If you have any good ideas, PLEASE contact us.

Something MUST be done about the senseless and cruel slaughter of birds in the nets around Lake Kasumigaura. And because Maurice, a Canadian living in Iwama has gotten involved, the beginnings of a volunteer rescue movement have started to germinate.

Maurice is an experienced environmental activist whose approach to getting things moving is to engage the farmers in friendly discussion in order to win them over to our side. Then if farmers refuse to or are not available to free birds entangled in their own fields, Maurice takes action, but strictly within the bounds of the law. He has purchased a pair of chest-high water-proof waders, and rubber gloves, and carries tools which are not used for cutting. He refuses to cut any nets in order to free birds (as the farmers themselves would do), because that could be considered an illegal act. Instead, he patiently and painstakingly untangles the ensnared wings legs and necks. He also takes precautions against bird flu by wearing a protective surgical mask. This approach is extemely time consuming, and we were only able to rescue six birds today. I felt impotent, standing on firm ground as Maurice plodded, like an astronaut on a planet with a strong gravitational pull, through the waist deep muck, slowly toiling to free the struggling survivers which he spotted with his uncanny eagle eyes.

Birds are continually being caught. Saving a handful of birds has no effect on the big picture and our ultimate aim is to have the nets come down as soon as possible. However, it was still extremely heartwarming and relieving to see birds that would have hung until starvation set in swim freely out into the lake.

We DEFINITELY need more people to get involved and we need more input and ideas.

Please contact us if you are interested in making a difference and doing THE RIGHT THING.

Thanks alot

Avi Landau
avi[at]tora.email.ne.jp
090-4221-4194

At 1:30 pm on a sultry Saturday July 12th, we gathered in front of the Sakura Gymnasium. The heat was intense and the air itself was like pea soup and seemed to pulsate with life. There were 28 of us in all, nature lovers, who had gathered from near and far to have a look at the cultural, historical and natural treasures of Konda-Dai, which is slated for a complete bulldozing so as to be turned into another DANCHI housing development.

As I have mentioned in a previous entry, this surprisingly large area of unused land located in the very heart of Tsukuba, received a temporary stay of execution when Kayoko Takahashi caught the construction company involved with the project red-handed as it attempted to secretly wipe out a hawk’s nest whose existence she had previously reported to the city office. Because of this incident, Ibaraki Prefecture has given the area a three year lease on life.

Takahashi-san has been working feverishly to make local residents aware and to get the local government to reconsider the future of this remarkably complete ecosystem. This month’s event was organized in order to give anyone interested a look at the richness of the Konda woods, which have made it possible for its resident hawk couple to successfully raise ALL THEIR YOUNG over the past three years. Not an easy feat, and one that shows the ecological strength of the Kondai-Dai woods.

Professor Satoshi Ohori, an ornithologist at Waseda University drove all the way to Konda to have a look at our local hawks, and give us some advice regarding how to go about a grass roots movement to protect the area.

We started with a walk through the village of Konda. As we shuffled along in the cruel heat, the wooded hill where Hanamuro Castle used to stand was directly behind us, while the forest under which the ruins of Konda Castle now rest lay dead ahead. These were wooden fortresses, or palisades, which were built to dominate the area in the Kamakura Period.

We stopped to examine a Batto Kannon Sacred Stone which stands at the head of a path leading to an ancient and beautiful stairway which ascends through a thick bamboo grove. At the top is the site of the old manor which was the residence of the court official who used to oversee this area in the Nara Period. I pointed out the rare sacred stones which are still carefully tended to by the local villagers.

We then headed into the woods where the hawks live. The three chicks are doing fine and fortunately did not seem to mind the large group of intruders. We tried to be as quiet as possible and quickly left filled with the excitement of a dramatic wildlife encounter.

We then returned to the Sakura gym where we had reserved a room for Professor Ohori’s talk. We stressed how it would be possible to save a portion of the woods which would allow the hawks to remain in the area if we got enough people involved, by signing petitions and calling the city and prefectural offices. He said that if enough people raised their voices, some of this forest might be saved.

With those encouraging words Ohori-Sesei rode off into the sunset leaving us with a sense of mission.

We will be having more meetings about the future of Konda-Dai in the near future. If you are interested, or would like to get involved contact Takahashi-san at kayoaro[AT]pd6.so-net.ne.jp or me, Avi Landau at avi[AT]tora.email.ne.jp. (Change the [AT] to an @ sign.)

And yes, that is Mt. Tsukuba in the background in the wood-block print of a bird of prey by Utagawa Hiroshige. It is almost the exact same scene that I see when I watch the hawks from my bedroom window.

Whenever I head towards Tsuchiura by car or bus, I always look forward to catching a glimpse of the large flock of egrets (shirasagi,白鷺) which use the small grove of trees on the eastern bank of the Sakura River as their rookery. Especially in the breeding season (April and May), it is thrilling to see all the frenetic activity of the colony, even if for the briefest moment, as you drive by on the Tsuchiura
Gakuen Road (look to the north when you get on the bridge just past the route 6 underpass). I always worry about this egret grove (sagi no mori) in October, as the launching point for the famous and extremly crowded and noisy Tsuchiura Fireworks Competition is just a couple of hundred meters to the south.

This year I have been concerned since spring, with this year’s breeding season being plagued by exceptionally unfavorable weather for the chicks. There have been week long strings of cold, wet and VERY WINDY days, undoubtedly resulting in the death of many young egrets.

To check up on how they were making out I asked a friend to stop and put on the parking lights as I had a longer than usual look at the birds. Much to my consternation, I saw a bulldozer and construction team working just next to the grove.

These are very shy and sensitive birds and usually flee when they are spotted from a hundred yards. Unfortunately, I could not go down (I had no time) to inquire as to what is going on. If someone can fill me in please do. Anyway, I will try to find out what is going on.

Haven’t these beautiful creatures been hounded enough? For centuries they have inspired artists (in Japan and on the continent), painters and choreographers, dancers, musicians and playwrights.

With loss of habitat due to development and especially the use of agricultural chemicals, the once UBIQUITOUS sagi no mori are a mere shadow of what they used to be.

Please go check on the birds yourself. but remember they are very sensitive so try to keep your
distance.

It’s nice to eat outside, and Cafe Plus 1 in Sakura Techno Park might be the best place in Tsukuba for an alfresco lunch or dinner. Within the confines of its faux American South-west style adobe courtyard, with its large picnic parasols and industrial-sized fan, even an afternoon meal in midsummer can be pleasant. The food there is always good, reasonably priced, and served in filling portions.

The other day at lunch, I learned something new about Cafe Plus 1. Dogs are welcome in its courtyard eating area, and are even served a dog-dish full of water, which is carried out by the staff on a tray.

So if you’d like to spend some more quality time with your pooch, Plus 1 might be the place for you and Pochi to dine.

An alternative title for this article could be ‘The Taka and Takahashi-san’ (Ms. Takahashi and the Hawk). That is because these are the chief protagonists in what has turned out to be a long and sometimes dirty (on the part of developers) struggle to preserve central Tsukuba’s last remaining tracts of wild land, the home to numerous plants and creatures, including the majestic and protected O-Taka (オオタカ) –the hawk.

Just north of the Sakura City Office, on both sides of the narrow road which runs by it from the Hanamuro intersection, there amazingly remain large areas of almost completely unused land, with brush so thick that in summer it is all but inaccessible, save for the few barely recognizable trails created by the small mammals which find shelter there. These are weasels, tanuki, rabbit and maybe even fox. The area resounds with the calls of pheasants (kiji), bush warbler (uguisu) and at night OWLS.

In the middle of this veritable jungle is Kayoko Takahashi’s tastefully designed house/aromatherapy studio. In her dining room there is always a field scope set up on a tripod. These days at almost any time during the day, if you put your eye to the eye-piece you will be in for a thrill. It is fixed on a favorite spot of the female O-Taka who you will almost surely see waiting for the return of her mate with food for their young. The actual nest sits a few trees away. This week the cry of the chicks is clearly audible.

My house is on the fringe of this same wilderness, and I can just make out Takahashi-san’s roof amidst the trees, from my bedroom window. Just the other day I received a surprise visit from the male hawk. A shadow passed, and I guessed it was just another crow on my veranda. I turned for a look and my eyes almost popped out of my head when, through the curtain, I recognized the large raptor, munching on a freshly caught prey, just a few feet from my bed.

With the TX development project, this area was chosen as the location for the railroad’s employee housing. It was ALL slated for clearing and development. Takahashi-san changed the course of events, however, by alertly informing officials about the annual presence of the breeding hawks and called for a re-evaluation of the project. Within a couple of days a bulldozer from the project’s contractor UR 都市再生機構 (UR Toshi Saisei Kiko) arrived and started to push down all the trees which Takahashi-san had indicated!!!! Lucky for two things, though. First they missed the actual breeding nest and had knocked out only an old nest they had spotted, and second Takahashi-san witnessed and filmed the whole incident!!! An order from the prefectural government was obtained to temporarily halt construction.

What happens next is still up in the air, but as you might know, government sponsored projects are  NEVER scrapped after being approved.For example, It was not  possible to stop the filling in and destruction of Isahaya Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture even  when eventually it was recognized by all parties that the huge project was ABSOLUTELY useless. But you never know, maybe things will work out differently in Tsukuba.

On Saturday July 12th at 1:30pm, we will tour the area paying special attention to flora,fauna and historical monuments. We will then of course  discuss the situation. Anyone interested in these procedings
can contact me at avi@tora.email.ne.jp

Please come and join in the fight to keep Tsukuba GREEN and BEAUTIFUL.

There is a serious animal cruelty problem in Kasumigaura. Birds are being trapped in lotus farmers’ nets and being left to die a slow and painful death. Read more about this issue and what Avi and Maurice are doing about it.

Avi and Maurice have started a group called “Kasumigaura Bird Rescue” to help save the birds. One of their proactive activities is to educate people about this problem by bringing them to the site and showing them the situation and what they are doing to fix it. They meet at the east exit of Tsuchiura Station and then go to Kasumigaura together. The next meeting will be on January 20. If you would like to help, please meet at the station at 10:30am. Call Maurice (090-1691-1590) to let him know that you will be attending and to get more information. (Also, let him know if you have a car and can shuttle a few people to the lake and back.)

Let’s make a difference together!

There will be a Kasumigaura Bird Rescue meeting on Thursday, February 28 from 8:45pm at Hot Stuff. Avi and Maurice will both be there to discuss this problem and look for solutions.

To find out more about the Kasumigaura Bird Rescue operation, please click on the following links.

• Save the Birds

href=”http://blog.alientimes.org/2007/12/bird-rescue-underway-six-saved-thousands-to-go/”>Bird Rescue Underway: Six Saved Thousands To Go

• Kasumigaura Bird Rescue

Dogs have not had it this good in Japan since the days of the DOG SHOGUN Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709) who issued daily edicts for the protection of dogs. (Alas, he was born in the Year of the Dog). Or should I say that people in the PET INDUSTRY have never had it this good. For despite the preponderance of pampered lapdogs and other expensive imported breeds which could not be seen so prominently in Japan even just a few years ago (especially in restaurants!!), and all the money being spent on luxury items and foods and grooming, foreign dog-lovers still find the way dogs are treated in this country to be one of the MOST STRESSFUL aspects of living in Japan. Most dogs are left to spend most of their lives tethered by an extremely short chain or locked inside steel cages hardly larger than themselves often directly exposed to the sun. My neighbors pointer has been locked in such a box for years. Its only recourse for stress release is incessant barking, which begins before dawn and goes on for at least two hours.

The worst stories I know are those related to hunting dogs, mostly pointers, which are usually treated as inanimate objects. In winter, every weekend hunters bring their dogs to my neighborhood for pheasant hunting. To spare the precious interiors of their vehicles from dog prints, many of these locals throw their dogs INTO THE TRUNK or keep them in tiny boxes on the back of their mini-vans. The most appalling story is the fate of the older hunting dogs which cannot be of use to their masters any longer (if you are squeamish DO NOT READ ON). The pointers are driven out to Mt Tsukuba, shot in the hind legs and left to starve. The reason this is done is that in this way the farmers don’t feel as if they’ve ACTUALLY killed their dogs. A friend has also told me she has seen an old pointer thrown out of a fast moving vehicle.

Yes, for me, the treatment of dogs is a constant source of stress. It’s hard for me to be happy when I pass a poor dog in a tiny cage, exposed to the sun, with no water. So despite the preponderance of well-cared for, even spoiled pooches, attitudes about animal care still have A LONG WAY TO GO before Japan becomes a REALLY COMFORTABLE PLACE TO LIVE.

If you see or hear about any dogs in need of help, please contact me and I will get in touch with people who can help.

Amabiki Kannon has a large collection of peacocks who are free to roam around the temple complex. I heard from one of the tourists that there are 25 males and 10 females in total. When I went, I saw about 6 males and 1 female. I took a short video of one of the males because I thought it was really neat to see him strut around, and even more cool to see how he put his feathers down “post-strut”.

In May 2007, Avi Landau wrote an article for Alien Times about how birds are being trapped in nets at Lake Kasumigaura and left to die. After he wrote that article, he discussed the problem with the city and received some assurances that something would be done about the situation. It is now more than half a year later and when Avi visited the lake yesterday, he found that nothing has been done. Beautiful owls, hawks, egrets, and herons are stuck in the nets and have been left to die there.

Avi needs the Tsukuba community to help him bring this issue to the attention of people who can do something about it. Here are some ideas of what you might be able to do to help.

• Go with Avi to take pictures of the birds stuck in the nets so that they can be used to demonstrate the problem to city officials.
• Translate documents into Japanese so that they can be distributed to the public.
• Contact people who work for the media (newspapers, television, etc.) and ask them to feature the story so more attention can be brought to this issue.
• Anything else you can think of!

If you are able to help, please contact Avi Landau at avi[AT]tora.email.ne.jp. This is an urgent problem as a huge number of birds are trapped and dying as you read this message.

Summers are noisy in Tsukuba. One evening last month (July) the cacophony around Tsukuba Center actually had me scared. I stepped out of the Okura Hotel’s lobby and out onto the road. In front of me stood the soon to be completed Joyo Bank building. The cicadas (semi) were chirping and droning, making me feel that I had ringing in the ears. From up and towards the south appeared a black swarm, and then another and another. These were flocks of Grey Starlings (mukudori) coming to roost for the night around the Center. I was mesmerized by their interweaving which created visual effects more fascinating than any kaleidoscope or lava lamp.

As the starlings started to settled into the trees, the noise more than doubled its volume and you could feel the soundwaves vibrating against your body. Then, suddenly, another sound rose up above the rest of the din. It was extremely loud and could only be described as NIGHTMARISH. l imagined some huge beast being tortured.

What this was was the man from the city office trying to scare away the flocks of starlings. He was doing this by blasting the recorded sound of the starlings distress call. It was certainly distressing! The man doing it told me that it would take at least five evenings of doing this to get the birds to move somewhere else.

The reasons that the people at the Center would want to have the birds move are easy to understand.

Besides the horrible racket the birds make, their droppings are prodigious and the ground along the pedestrian square area between the hotel and Nova Hall and then stretching towards the library was becoming pasty and difficult to maneuver.

Anyway, this week I’ve still been able to enjoy watching the interweaving flocks. The birds have moved, but NOT VERY FAR! Now they are roosting in front of the Mitsui Building and behind the Lexus dealership. I’m sure that soon someone will call the city office to have the starlings chased away again. One more thing the boys at city hall might do is order the kind of tree-butchering which you have probably noticed (and cringed at) in Japan, which leaves only a miserable trunk. This is also an effective way of getting the starlings to roost somewhere else!

Why do the starlings like to roost in the center of the city? I guess it makes them feel safe. They must also prefer to be in trees neatly lined up in a row.

The cicadas and starlings will be keeping things noisy for a few more weeks. If you too would like to hear the buzz and watch the starlings interweave come to the bridge between Right-On and Days Town, at dusk.

Getting around Tsukuba on foot can sometimes pay off. Even at night, when its raining! After being stood up for an appointment near the University, I headed for home in a slight drizzle which soon turned into a steady shower. I was going east, and the narrow rice-paddied valley along the banks of the Hanamuro river is almost completely shielded from any light, and it was like walking into a bygone age. I crossed the river and the croaking of the frogs turned from a hum into an almost deafening roar.  I realized that the farmers must be making rice for THEIR OWN CONSUMPTION on this side of the valley and using LESS PESTICIDES. Thus the abundance of LIVING CREATURES. Turning southward along the field I was startled by a delicate streak of dancing light! I stopped in my tracks even though I was getting wetter by the minute. A spot of light and then more streaks here and there filled me with the thrill of discovering a species long thought extinct. There were wild fireflies (hotaru,蛍) here!

Older Japanese fondly remember the abundant fireflies, which before the widespread use of agricultural chemicals (especially those sprayed from helicopters by local governments), would delight them each rainy season. Catching fireflies in a jar was once one of the most popular and memorable childhood games of summer. Now children have to be taken to special parks or institutes which artificially breed the light-making insects. Fees are charged and large crowds make the setting highly commercialized.

There are two main types of fireflies in Japan. The larger type is the Genji-botaru and the smaller one the Heike-botaru (they are named after the two warring clans of the late Heian Period which in English we refer to as the Minamoto and the Taira).To tell the truth,Im not sure which types the ones I found are.

 There are dozens of great poems inspired by the firefly with many going back to the Manyoshu, the great collection of poems compiled in the Nara and Early Heian Periods.

Of course, it is possible to see wild fireflies at a few places in Japan and even in Tsukuba City (on Mt Tsukuba for instance). It was exciting however to find that the little love sick bugs might be making a comeback with walking distance of Tsukuba Center.

If you’d like more details about where to go Hotaru viewing, contact me. I will try to get a map with details posted soon.