Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project for FY2023, Vol. 6: "An Autumn Festival" held (Monday, October 16, 2023)

　In Japan, spring is the season of sowing seeds, planting seedlings, and planting rice, while autumn is said to be the season of harvest, when people realize how much they appreciate the harvest of grains and fruits. Originally, "autumn festivals" are said to have originated as a way for farmers to express their gratitude for the harvest and to perform music and dance in rural areas.

　Looking around the world, we find "Halloween," a festival held on October 31, the end of the year according to the ancient Celtic calendar, to celebrate the autumn harvest and scare away evil spirits; "Oktoberfest," the original festival held in Munich, Germany, to celebrate the beginning of the beer brewing season; and "Thanksgiving," a festival to share joy, gratitude, and the first harvest of the year. Thanksgiving" is a time to share the joy and gratitude of the first harvest.

　On Monday, October 16, 2023, the sixth "An Autumn Festival" was held as the sixth phase of the Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project, aiming to create a beloved garden at Hosei University, which is "full of attention to detail.

　In July 2023, UN Secretary-General Guterres sounded the alarm in response to a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), stating that "the era of global warming is over and the era of global boiling has arrived. The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that the average temperature from June to August 2023 was 1.76 degrees higher than normal, making it the hottest summer since 1898, when observations began.

　On the day of the sixth festival, the weather was pleasant with a predicted maximum temperature of 25°C in Tokyo, and the "Green Terrace" was used as a stage for the "Autumn Festival," with the eggplant plant "Solanum pumpkin," which produces pumpkin-like looking fruits, "Five-color red pepper," "Kikyo," which are the seven autumn flowers, "Kibana cosmos," " Marigold", "Cockscomb", etc. were planted. Now, where will the "Autumn Festival" take place?

　At the end of the project, we harvested "peanuts" and "Ashitaba" from the Chiba half-tree that we planted along with sweet potatoes in the " View for Attention" held on June 16, 2023 as the second phase of the project. The sweet potatoes planted in the first project "A Real Gardner" and the fourth project "Summer is here!

　The "Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project," for which the Hosei University Environmental Center serves as the secretariat, is conscious of the biotope network in the "outer moat" that straddles Chiyoda and Shinjuku wards, and has aimed to create "the beloved garden at Hosei University" by accumulating small "encounters" and "changes in behavior" brought about by "school love. In March 2022, Hosei University received a prize in the "2021 Chiyoda Biodiversity Grand Prix" sponsored by Chiyoda City, and in February 2023, it received an Encouragement Award in the group category of the "16th Shinjuku Eco One Grand Prix Contest" sponsored by Shinjuku City.

　The Musashino Hagi, a member of the bush clover family and one of the seven autumnal flowers that have been familiar to the Japanese since ancient times and are often mentioned in the Manyoshu (Anthology of Myriad Leaves), is now in full bloom and visitors can enjoy the autumnal atmosphere in the "Beloved Garden at Hosei University," the second phase of the project. The "Hyotan Pond" is also a popular spot for visitors to enjoy the autumnal atmosphere. Around the "Hyotan Pond," the "Curcuma" planted in the second phase of the project to adapt to climate change is growing well, and visitors can enjoy its white flowers that remind us of summer.

　The next project, the seventh "Spacetime," is scheduled to be held on November 17, 2023 as a special event for the 24th Environmental Exhibition.

　We look forward to seeing you all at the "Beloved Garden at Hosei University," which is "full of attention to detail.