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Hosei University Rooftop Greening Maintenance Project Vol. 9 "TREASURE" for Academic Year 2023 (January 16, 2024 (Tue.))

  • Jan 19, 2024
  • Events and Occasions
Notices

　The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the average global temperature in 2023 was the highest year in recorded history, rising 1.45 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 average, which is considered the pre-industrial benchmark, and could be even higher in 2024. UN President Guterres warned that "humanity's actions are scorching the planet," and called for prompt action to resolve global warming.

　The Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project usually takes a break from its activities from January to March to enjoy the growth of the bulbs planted in the fall. The ninth "TREASURE" was held on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, at the Green Terrace on the Ichigaya Campus, where the project's activities are based.

　The "Green Terrace," the activity base of the Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project, was established in the spring of 2005 and has expanded from a "resting place" for students, faculty, and staff to a "space where endangered killifish swim in the gourd pond in the garden, trees and flowers grow, and birds, butterflies, and other living things grow and inhabit". The pond is now expanding into a "space where living things grow and inhabit," including birds and butterflies.

　The ninth "TREASURE," Hosei University's rooftop greening maintenance project, was held on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, at the Green Terrace on the Ichigaya Campus, where Hosei University's activities are based, with an awareness of the biotope network in the "outer moat" area and the theme of "TREASURE" used in various situations including treasure, hidden treasure, a unique person and beloved person. The red berries are loved as a good luck charm, and the dried young leaves and branches are known for their antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, wind and moisture eliminating, blood curative, and analgesic effects. The dried young leaves and branches of the Senryo plant are believed to be antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, windless, dehumidifying, hemostatic, and pain relieving, while the tulip bulbs (donated by Naoko Enomoto of the Environment Center) were planted at a time after the seventh "Spacetime" event (November 20, 2023 ) to bring a springtime glow to the garden. The vegetable garden plot was planted in the same season as the seventh "Spacetime" (November 20, 2023).

　In the vegetable garden plot, we planted mini-tomatoes rich in lycopene, potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C. We also planted spinach, the king of highly nutritious vegetables rich in carotene, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, folic acid, vitamins, and fiber, as well as iron and vitamin C that helps iron absorption, We planted seed potatoes of "make-in," a potato that was introduced to Japan around 1917, with its name derived from the queen chosen for a spring festival in the medieval era.

　The Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project, for which the Hosei University Environmental Center serves as the secretariat, has been working to create a "beloved garden at Hosei University" through a series of small "encounters" and "changes in behavior" brought about by the "love for the school" with an awareness of the biotope network in the "outer moat" spanning Chiyoda and Shinjuku wards. In March 2022, the efforts were highly evaluated and won a prize in the "2021 Chiyoda Biodiversity Grand Prix" hosted by Chiyoda City, and in February 2023, the group category and encouragement prize in the "16th Shinjuku Eco One Grand Prix Contest" hosted by Shinjuku City.

　We look forward to spring, dreaming that this year's beloved garden at Hosei University, which is "full of attention to detail," will be a treasure house of "TREASURE," a connection with the local "nature.

Two people with connections to the project members participated in the ninth project, "TREASURE," for the first time. (Photo: from left in front row, Ryuto Fuji, Faculty of Sustainability Studies; Risaki Takahashi, Faculty of Letters; Daiki Kato, Faculty of Law; Tomomi Koimizu, Faculty of Letters; Naoko Enomoto, Environmental Center; Hiroo Moriizumi, Faculty of Letters ).

  • Snowdrops, planted in the fifth project "Light and Shadow" (September 20, 2023), which look like lanterns heralding spring and whose petals open when the sun hits them and close with warm air in the evening, have blossomed in the cold.

  • Winter in Hosei University's beloved garden, "full of attention," is a time to look forward to the growth of the bulbs planted in the fall. Currently, the camellias and mountain tea flowers in the back section of the garden and the Japanese narcissus around the gourd pond provide a welcome respite.

  • This spring, we will plant bulbs with the hope that they will become treasures that will bring springtime radiance to our beloved garden at Hosei University, which is "full of attention to detail.

  • Gerberas, whose words include "full of light," "hope," and "progress" (donated by Naoko Enomoto of Hosei University's Center for the Environment), are the hope of the members. This plot became a space "full of attention" where colorful flowers can be enjoyed even in winter.

  • The Japanese garden is one of Hosei University's most beloved garden "specialties," where primroses, Christmas roses, orchids, tamarins, mosses, and other flowers can be enjoyed. In the ninth planting, we planted seedlings of the Hakushu, which has double-petaled white flowers, and the Senryo, whose dried young leaves and branches are believed to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

  • In the vegetable garden plot, which members look forward to every time, we sowed seeds of mini-tomatoes, which are rich in nutrients, and spinach, the king of vegetables. We also planted seed potatoes of the "make-in" variety, which derives its name from the queen chosen for a spring festival in medieval times.

  • This is the first flower that visitors to the beloved garden at Hosei University will encounter.

  • We are secretly preparing "TREASURE" so that the area around the gourd pond in the biotope of our beloved garden at Hosei University, which is "full of attention," can be enjoyed almost all year round.