This post, the first in a series of six posts each focusing on a different aspect of the trip, is an introduction of sorts to Japan from the perspective of a first time visitor and also a botanist and gardener.
It may seem a bit self-indulgent to stretch out my recent trip to Japan with a series of blog posts. But prepping for these posts has allowed me not only to process the 8000 photos I tookâno exaggerationâbut also to revisit the myriad plants we saw, in particular the ferns, and the beautiful locales to which we travelled to see them.
It has also given me the time to process my impressions of the âLand of the Rising Sunâ. It has given me the space to do further research and, yes, it has been a wonderful indulgence by which I extended and continue to extend my trip, which lasted only 17 days, for a few more weeks.
When I first heard of this tour focused on the ferns of Japan offered by Japan Specialized Group Tours I was intrigued, and baffled. How could a tour focus only on ferns? Still the intrigue outweighed the puzzlement, and I signed on. Certainly the idea of hiking in the forests of Japan was reason enough to tag along with members of the British Pteridological Society and the Hardy Fern Foundation. As a garden designer I am a great fan of ferns and use them in nearly all the gardens I make. Also as a plant collector I have amassed quite a collection of ferns, over 50 different types at last count, and have unwittingly become a confirmed pteridomaniac, a term of affection among fern lovers. This trip certainly clenched the deal, introducing me to many spectacular ferns I had never seen before and wonderfully charming pteridomaniacs, who are some of my favorite people on the planet now. I will get to the ferns and their lovers in subsequent posts.
I really want to just set the stage, so to speak, to draw a map of Japan in words and photos.
And that map would not be complete without water: from the Pacific Ocean to the countless rivers, ponds, drainage ditches, and puddles Japan is a watery place.
I am not saying that because we got rained on everyday. We actually only got rained on once. I am not saying that because we were exploring dank river valleys and swamps in search of water loving ferns. I am stating a fact.
The rainfall in Tokyo averages 60â a year, nearly double that of ârainyâSeattle, and that rain, heaviest in the summer months, falls year round. Farther south in the Wakayama prefecture, where we spent the second half of the trip, yearly rainfall averages about 130â a year. Even the driest months in our base town of Shingu have significant amounts of rainfall.
Though the strato-volcanic archipelago known as Japan runs from 24th to the 46th parallel, there is only one anomalous desert. Japan is a wet and humid place from beginning to end. Our trip kept us contained to the center of the main island of Honshu, but within that small region of the 430 or so islands that make up the country we were able to see a wide variety of habitats and plants.
Though I grow many Japanese plants in the gardens I created in the Seattle area, I donât really know the Japanese flora. I was certain with all the volcanoes, mountain ranges, and waters that Japan would look a lot like Washington State.
Only a little.
Japanâs landscape and flora has much more in common with the southeastern portion of this continent. In the areas where we travelled the mountains were often soft, rounded and tree-covered. The general scale of things was smaller and tighter, at times reminding me of the Ozarks or the Vulkan-Eiffel of western Germany. With all the rainfall and hot humidity it is actually the antithesis of our modified
Mediterranean climate. The forests are generally broad-leafed, both evergreen and deciduous. Where we did encounter coniferous forest they were usually planted mono-crops. These forests were ideal habitats for ferns, along with many under story shrubs and herbaceous plants. What we saw was mind-boggling and complex.
Much more than I could take in at first glance.
So what I got were impressions, and that is mostly what I will share.