Perspectives of the river, children, and living things.

When you say "I'm going to the river!" at San no Mori,
that means the Kamo River.

While there are famous rivers called Kamo River all over the country,
our "Kamo River" flows as if it is embracing the entire Saba settlement from Mt. Nijo,
and flows into the sea at the end of the settlement.
It is our "Kamo River."

I love the river.

Children love the river.

They love watching the water flow.
They love being able to find some kind of living thing.
They love it because it's cold.
They love it because it's not sticky. (River person? Ocean person?)
They love it because they can play there.

And, they have some business at the river.

Setting a trap made of bamboo,
and going to see if anything has been caught the next day.
(I wonder if there are eels or fish...)
(Sometimes a small crab is inside,)
(and we say "You're still small," and release it.)

Going to try and see if they can catch a crab
with a fishing rod they made themselves.
(It became a trend at San no Mori for a while.)
(It started with Noji-san's nature class.)

On the way back from the fields, stopping by to wash their boots.
(Even though they say they are just washing them a little,
sometimes they end up getting all excited.)

On the way back from the rice paddies, stopping by to wash their bodies.
(They wash grandly here.)
(Are they swimming rather than washing?)
(As a result, they end up clean.)

Going to pick Job's tears.
(They are absorbed in picking the fruit growing by the riverside.)
(Their pockets get filled with them, clattering around.)
(Apparently, they are delicious as tea (this is also from nature class).)

To get from San no Mori to the terraced rice field we are renting,
we sometimes have to cross the Kamo River,
so the children stop by the river on a daily basis.

Since even the children of San no Mori have so much business at the river,
I imagine that for the people who have lived here for a long time,
their lives must have been even closer to the Kamo River.

A river flows right by our daily lives.

In fact, when I ask the people in the village, they tell me lively stories about how they used to do laundry in the river, catch and eat mitten crabs and eels, how there were so many ice gobies that there would be announcements telling people to come and get them, and how there used to be much more water.

I think the Kamo River was just a natural part of life, and the field of daily living was much broader than it is now.

Looking at it now, however.

No one does laundry in the Kamo River anymore. (Except for the children of San-no-Mori sometimes.) There are almost no mitten crabs or eels left in the Kamo River. (Though not zero.)

But the Kamo River is still here in Sawa, and once a year, on grass-cutting day, all the mowers in the village gather to buzz and whir as they neatly trim the riverbanks.

In spring, the cherry trees bloom in a row, and in fact, sweetfish fishing enthusiasts even visit.

In such a Kamo River, the children of San-no-Mori play and learn.

Learning at the Kamo River. It began with nature lessons from

Noji-san.

Learning at the river.

Noji-san is a person who knows a lot about living creatures.

Since about the second year after the establishment of San no Mori,
he has been teaching children about the
nature, animals, and plants around San no Mori.

The classes are centered on fieldwork.
Grassy areas, forests, the sea, rice paddies, fields, roadsides,
and the Kamo River.
The entire area around San no Mori is a site for learning.

There are days when we go to the river to look for living things,

and there are times when we happen to pass by on a day with a different theme,
end up finding something,
and just observe it intently.
(A major appeal of Noji-san's classes
is that there are many important 'detours'.)

Noji-san has been conducting
creature surveys in the Kamo River,
finding and observing living things in class,
and sometimes in workshops for the public.

When you do a creature survey,
you are surprised by how many different living things there are
even just within the range you can see.

Moreover,
what you once recognized only as 'shrimp,' 'fish,' or 'dragonfly larvae'

starts to gain resolution, like saying
'This is a scud, I wonder if there are any oriental river prawns,' or
'This dragonfly larva is... what could it be? Let's look at a book,' or
'They should be in shadows like this!'

The children's perspective lowers even further,
and they enter the river from the perspective of the living things.

When 'perspectives' increase,
the world looks much more expansive.

I think that is a very important thing for living.

Just like the children,
when we look at the Kamo River from the perspective of living creatures,
the Kamo River truly seems to be an interesting river.

The way the water flows,
the way the surrounding trees grow,
the living creatures that come here,
and the fact that it runs through a single settlement called Sawa.

(The person who taught us this is Professor Satoko Seino.
(Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University)
She tells us one after another about the interesting points (deep learning) of the Kamo River, saying, "The Kamo River is a wonderful river!"

When viewed from the perspective of living creatures,
the river is a home,
a food pantry,
a place to protect life,
a place for birth and raising young, and so on.

I feel like I want to engage with the Kamo River even more.

And I have come to think that
there are things people can do
and things people can think about
to preserve the river for the living creatures.

So, this fiscal year, at San-no-Mori,

"Everyone's Kamo River: Inherit and Connect Project"

under this title,
we have conducted living creature surveys,
environmental DNA surveys,
and interviews about the Kamo River.
(Supported by the TOYO TIRE Group Environmental Protection Fund. Thank you.)

The children of the "Sawa Living Creature Survey Team"
have experienced a lot of fieldwork
and have seen, learned about, and touched many living creatures.


I really want to share their raw voices and raw records
with many people,
so we are holding an activity report meeting.

"Sawa Living Creature Survey Team" Activity Report Meeting
Saturday, November 15, 2025, 15:00–17:00
At San-no-Mori Gakusha
Participation is free (please make a reservation if possible)

Reporters: Sawa Living Creature Survey Team (Student volunteers from San-no-Mori Gakusha)
Satoshi Nojima
Guest: Satoko Seino (Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University)

Thanks to the children,
Noji-san,
Professor Satoko Seino,
and those who cooperated with the interviews,
our perspectives are sure to broaden once again.

I hope that by talking about what we heard, saw, and felt
in this space as well,
we can all think about the present and future of the Kamo River together.

In addition, our website also
sequentially publishes the results of our living creature surveys.

Even if you are far away,
please start by visiting our website
to meet the living creatures of the Kamo River.

The end has turned into a series of announcements, but
I hope that everyone reading this
will take a look at the Kamo River,
the nature around you,
and the nature within you.

May your world
expand significantly!

(Kumiko Omatsu)