Report: I moved to Aomori

Hello. I am Yuhi Miura, and I write notes under this harunire0321 account.

In this article, I would like to share a bit of a personal story instead of the usual tree-related topics.

This is sudden, but I have an announcement: I moved to Aomori Prefecture in May.
Those who have been paying close attention to the locations where the photos in my articles were taken might have noticed, but I am originally from Hyogo Prefecture.
Because of that, most of the plant photos I have taken until now were naturally from the Kansai region. However, I think my field guide photos will now be filled with plants from the Tohoku region.

So, why did I suddenly move to the northernmost prefecture on Honshu, you ask...?

The story of how I ended up in Aomori

Originally, I was aiming for a university in Australia to study environmental science. In my third year of high school, I took an English proficiency test with an absurdly high application fee and somehow managed to clear the entrance requirements. Just as I was feeling relieved, I received news that the course I wanted would not be offered until 2022 due to the pandemic. Are you kidding me?

The year after graduating from high school became wide open, like a gap formed in a climax forest. At first, I was quite depressed.

However, if you look at it from a different perspective, this year might be the freest year of my life, one that will never come again. I wanted to make good use of it. With that in mind, I decided to master the nature-related field that I want to pursue for the rest of my life. While looking for ways to do so with my father's help, I was approached by Oiken (Oirase Nature Tourism Research Association), and I decided to spend a year training there.

Oiken is active in the Oirase Mountain Stream in Towada City, Aomori Prefecture. It is a beautiful mountain stream located in the 14-kilometer upper section of the Oirase River, which flows from Lake Towada to the Pacific Ocean. In this land, which boasts some of Japan's greatest wilderness, I will be involved in activities such as environmental surveys and ecotourism for the next year, and I will do my best to deepen my understanding of the natural environment.

First time in Aomori

In early April, I headed to Aomori for the first time in my life for a preliminary visit. It was a short flight of an hour and a half from Kobe Airport. While cherry blossoms were blooming in Kobe, Mount Hakkoda, visible from the airplane window, was covered in snow.
"I've come to an amazing place."
The dramatic change in scenery invites a sense of excitement about landing in an unknown town.

↑ Moved by my first encounter with Hakkoda from the sky.

When I walked the ten-plus kilometers from the airport to Aomori city to observe the plants along the road, it was interesting to see the clear differences in vegetation compared to the Kansai region. For example, northern tree species that are almost never seen in the lowlands of Kansai, such as Japanese white birch and Japanese larch, were growing like weeds on the slopes along the road, and the park plantings were occupied by unfamiliar conifers like Sakhalin spruce, Sakhalin fir, and mountain pine.

↑ Seeing Japanese larch growing with the same casualness as Japanese cheesewood in Kansai makes me realize I've come to the north country.

When I visit a new place, I can have these kinds of "nice to meet you" moments with various plants, so my spirits are lifted just by walking along the roads and through the parks. My shoes got soaked because I walked a long distance on snow-covered sidewalks, but I realized once again the greatness of plants, which amplify the joy of traveling to distant places many times over.

To all the cold-climate plants of Aomori, I look forward to working with you.
The day after I walked through Aomori city greeting them like that, I finally headed to Oirase.

I will resent you, forest of Oirase

↑ The beech forest I saw on my first day in Aomori. I was moved by the beautiful scenery, which looked like something out of a picture book.

When I first encountered the Oirase forest, where I will be spending the next year, the first words that came to my mind were, 'What on earth is this?'

Every single tree is just massive. The scale of the trees is so clearly different from other forests that I started to doubt if I had become smaller myself. There are awe-inspiring ancient beech trees that you wouldn't see in the sparse beech forests of the warm Kansai region, and grand horse chestnut and katsura trees that look like they would be designated as natural monuments in Kansai, growing everywhere.
Walking through a forest that could be called a 'nest of giant trees,' I felt a bit embarrassed that I had been so moved by walking through small-scale primeval forests in Kansai until now. While I was so moved by the forest's splendor, which exceeded my imagination, that I felt like I might get a nosebleed, I also started to feel a little worried.

↑ Such magnificent giant katsura trees are rare in Kansai. I was shocked by the environment where things like this just grow one after another.

If I've seen the Oirase forest, I wonder if I'll ever be able to be moved by other forests again.

I am only 18 years old. I have a long life ahead of me. Since I want to be involved with plants for the rest of my life, I think I will see many forests before I die. I wonder if I will ever encounter a forest as exciting as the Oirase forest again. I feel like it's quite difficult to find a forest more wonderful than this one.
I can't help but feel that if I stay in Oirase for a year, I won't feel anything when I see other forests. I'm starting to worry about the rest of my life. That is how captivating this forest is.

To show such an amazing thing to an 18-year-old with a future ahead of him. I resent you, Oirase forest (laughs).

What I want to do in Oirase

↑ Giant Japanese elm trees, the namesake of my account, are also everywhere in Oirase.

At Oiken, there are professional guides who know everything about the nature of Oirase. The guides at Oiken have a wide range of knowledge, not only about animals and plants but also about the history and geology of Oirase, and I am just overwhelmed and look up to them. As someone who only knows about trees, I am not keeping up at all right now.

I will be under the care of these guides from now on.

Right now, I can only see the forest from the perspective of 'trees.' But it is not just trees that live in the forest. Animals, herbaceous plants, and creatures in the river all come together to create the environment called a 'forest.' If I walk through the forest with my eyes on organisms other than trees, I might see a completely different world than before. I really want to see that 'different world.'

↑ Since coming to Oirase, I've also started learning the names of wild plants. The photo is of a Rodgersia podophylla I met on the first day of the survey.

While experiencing the nature of Oirase, I want to have the people at Oiken share their knowledge about fields I haven't touched before, such as animals and herbaceous plants, and become someone who can perceive the forest from various aspects, not just the single aspect of 'trees.' This is my goal for this year.

To achieve this goal, I want to cherish every day in Oirase.
To everyone at Oiken, the creatures of Oirase, and everyone reading this note, I look forward to working with you.

For the time being, I plan to post articles about the nature of Oirase. Please be sure to read them.