The 3rd year (SR) “Kitakami River fieldwork”

The 3rd year students conducted “Kitakami River fieldwork” at Osu, Kitakami-machi, Ishinomaki-shi under a cloudy sky during rainy season on July 5. We decided that the 3rd year students conduct fieldwork downriver of Kitakami River to deepen continuity of study between Junior High School and Senior High School as our 1st year Senior High School students conduct fieldwork upstream of Kitakami River in Hachimantai, Iwate prefecture.

After arriving in Hachimantai, students heard a lecture from Mr. Takeyama, an adviser of Riasunomori, incorporated non-profit organization under the title of “Reed bed in Kitakami River, then and now”. Professor Kazuhiro Yamada, Development of Environment and Energy Tohoku Institute of Technology, gave advance guidance for fieldwork and explained the arrangement of regeneration work for reed bed.

After his lecture, students went into tidal land and took out mud from a 50 centimeters square area. They rinsed the mud with river water many times and observed water creatures such as sandworms, crabs, common fresh water clams and so on. They could also scoop a lot of young goby and shrimp. They were delighted by it and felt joy and pleasure to communicate with nature.

Then the students started replanting reeds. They were divided into 3 groups, “Grubbing up reeds”, “Carrying reeds” and “Planting reeds” and acted aspiringly. The harder they worked, the more they lost their footing in the mud and some girl students were completely covered in mud. The replanted area was not large as we did not have enough time, but it was a very valuable experience for them.

After lunch, we moved to Kumagai Master Thatchers Co. Ltd.(Kumagai Sangyo) and heard a lecture about “reeds” from Chairman, Mr. Kumagai. “The construction of pit dwelling house in Jomon period is the same as the way we built reed beds. Almost all reed-screens which we can purchase at home centers are imported. Reeds have a multiplicity of uses. We, Japanese should review the ease of using reeds and should actively utilize it. The best way of preservation of reed beds is to clip and to use and the bad way are to neglect.” He also gave a message to us “A way to coexist with nature is a big challenge for your generation.”

Students could learn many things in this fieldwork which they cannot learn in classroom lecture.

　　
Setting square area 　　　　　　　　Screening out mud　　　　　　　　Researching water creatures
and taking mud.

　　
Grubbing up reeds, Carrying reeds, 　
Planting reeds