Japanese Food Might Be in Danger: What is the "Waterproof Mountain" Phenomenon? | Shin Novel No. 020
Cedar and cypress trees are planted all over the slopes. They are spaced closely together so that as many as possible can grow.
They were even planted on steep slopes in the hope that they would become stronger trees. On steep slopes, trees try to stand against gravity.
In the old days, wood sold well.
So people cleared the mountains and planted more. The mountains were filled with trees one after another.
However, from a certain day on, the wood stopped selling.
There are many reasons for this, but for the mountain owners, the only thing that mattered was that it was no longer profitable.
Since then, the mountains have not been maintained.
When you enter the mountain, it is dim even in the daytime. The cedar trees are so dense that almost no light reaches the ground.
Rain is also repelled by the branches and leaves. Water does not fall to the ground.
It looks as if the entire mountain has been treated with a water-repellent coating.
I used to call it a waterproof mountain.
There is almost no grass or moss on the ground.
Water does not soak into the mountain. Naturally, the water flowing into the rivers also changes.
The nutrients from the mountain do not descend to the river.
What does not descend to the river does not reach the sea either.
And the sea gradually becomes barren.
When I went to rural areas for my oyster work, I often went up the rivers.
Someone once laughed at me, saying I was like a salmon.
Going up the river from the sea, heading toward the mountains.
And looking for the owners of the mountains.
In most cases,
it takes a long time to find them.
When I finally visit, I am told this:
"No, that mountain isn't mine."
I don't know if that's true.
No one likes to talk much about the mountains.
If you accidentally enter a mountain,
sometimes, someone who isn't in a very good mood will appear.
Well, in reality, it is trespassing.
I can't complain if they get angry.
It's not like I haven't had painful experiences.
I can't call the police.
They won't be called.
Instead,
I sometimes have to listen to them talk for a while.
Eventually, I am usually asked.
"Why are you doing something like this?"
Even I,
don't really know.
"The ocean might be dying."
When I say things like that,
the other person usually goes silent.
Then, they bring out an old chainsaw. They start sharpening the blade.
If you look closely,
it's usually rusted.
Just for that day,
sometimes they will go into the mountain for me.
We cut down a few trees,
and then come back down the mountain.
Even just that,
is much better than doing nothing.
When I go to the next mountain,
it's back to the beginning again.
The event that just happened,
has not been shared anywhere.
Think about the number of mountains in Japan.
Even if you repeated the same thing ten thousand times,
it might still not be enough.
I was talking about that,
at a clubhouse at one point.
A young man who said he was a rice farmer,
said this in the middle of it.
"I'm sorry."
It seems that person's family also owns a mountain.
He knew that thinning was necessary.
But it didn't make money, and
he had just left it as it was for some reason.
"I didn't know I was causing trouble for the ocean."
Saying that,
he left the room for a moment.
He came back a little later.
"I went and did some thinning."
It seems he originally intended to cut down about three trees.
But in the middle of it,
he said it started to feel strangely good.
In the end, he apparently cut down twelve trees.
"But this isn't enough, is it?"
It seems he went to the management center to apply for thinning.
He also paid money.
He said he used all his savings.
It was money he had been saving to buy a drone for spraying pesticides.
"For a while, I'll spray pesticides the old-fashioned way."
He said that and laughed.
The people who were listening to that story,
started moving one after another.
I'm going to the mountains, too.
I'll make sure my parents get the registration done properly.
Voices like that,
could be heard from all over the room.
I think that was in the spring of 2021.
SNS has its waves.
Back then,
the waves were just high.
That's why,
I think it just happened to reach far.
Even now, I sometimes think.
People are probably,
repeating the same stories over and over.
Trees grow in the mountains.
Water flows into the rivers.
Nutrients reach the sea.
Along the way,
someone moves their hands just a little.
With just that,
the world changes quite a bit.
However, chainsaws are dangerous.
Thinning,
is not something an amateur can do lightly.
Even among professionals, someone dies every year.
If you are interested,
I want you to watch one movie first.
It's a movie called "Wood Job!"
Buying a chainsaw,
is not too late even after that.
In the mountains, there are still many rusty chainsaws sleeping.
From now on, I will,
continue to repeat not a Wood Job, but a Wood "Jab".
And one day,
the day will come when I am told "Good Job."
Even if that,
is still,
a modest resistance for now.
👉️Shin Novel Magazine
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