We’ve just had a wonderful weekend enjoying the pleasures of the Tama Hills Recreation Area, which combines luxurious quarters with wild, somewhat terrifying scenery reminiscent of what a world without humans might look like. It’s the latter that continues to delight me in the bi-annual visits we’ve been fortunate to make over the past decade or so, though such opportunities may about to draw to a close. We will enjoy them while we can, though. Related posts: Tour de Kagoshima-Kyoto Day -1A: Tama Hills to Haneda Bromocalypse, Now! Satoyama Blessed By Wonderful People in 2023 Campbelltown Forest of Wild Birds…
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For the past few years, I’ve been very fortunate to live adjacent to (and, more recently, nearby) a satoyama, a little strip of near-wilderness amid the hustle and bustle of suburban and metropolitan areas. Tokyo is the world’s largest city and it is densely populated. Much of the city is industrialized, but frequently there are little havens of almost untamed natural woodland or small-lot farms. I used to go for walks in the farmland near our previous home and loved the serenity. I could walk through pristine forests just a couple of minutes’ drive from bustling highways and densely packed…