Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project Vol. 3 "Star of the Garden" (Friday, July 7, 2023)

　On Friday, July 7, 2023, the Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project, for which the Hosei University Environmental Center serves as the secretariat, held its third "Star of the Garden" event, aiming to create a "beloved garden at Hosei University" that is "full of attention to detail.

　The Green Terrace, the base of activities for the project, is the only remaining rooftop garden on the Ichigaya Campus where students participated in the entire process from planning to maintenance, and was created in the spring of 2005 as a "place of relaxation" for students, faculty, and staff.

　The third project will be held on July 7, 2023 (Friday), Tanabata (Star Festival), when participants will be asked to make a wish for the future of our irreplaceable earth. While selecting plants with the theme of "the star of the beloved garden at Hosei University," we worked to create the "beloved garden at Hosei University" while being conscious of the biotope network in the "outer moat" area, preserving the biodiversity of the area, and considering the connection with "nature.

　First, Naoko Enomoto of Hosei University's Environmental Center talked about the "highlights" and "birth story" of the "beloved garden of Hosei University," and the characteristics of the vegetables such as shiso, tomatoes, and Ashitaba, which can be harvested in the vegetable garden plot, and fruits such as blueberries, which were selected with the participants based on the theme of "Stars in the Garden. The participants and I talked about the characteristics of the plantings selected based on the "Star of the Garden" theme.

　This time, we "stuck to" the language of flowers under the theme of "Stars in the Garden," and selected "Oxypetalum (Blue Star)" from Saitama Prefecture, whose five petals look like stars in the language of flowers, "happy love" and "heart to believe in each other," and "hope comes true" and "wishes" in the language of flowers, because of its small star-like flower shape, Pentas," which is associated with the wish of a shooting star, "Tsubabuki" (Doumougenkun), which has the largest number of bright light yellow star spots in spring and fall, "Eternal love," "Unchanging love," "Nobility," and "Faithfulness" in the language of flowers, and "Kikyo" which was loved since the Manyoshu era because of its star-like flower shape, etc. were selected. The flowers are star-shaped and have been loved since the Manyo period (710-794).

　After the project was completed, "UCHIMIZU AT HOSEI" was held with the aim of combating global warming, heat island effects, and preventing heat stroke by going back in time to the Edo period and using ladles and bamboo water guns. UCHIMIZU is a summer tradition in Japan, with an estimated 6 million people participating every year.

　We look forward to seeing you again at the "beloved garden" of Hosei University!