A study on village forest landscape in small island topography in Okinawa, Japan

摘要

Forest landscape based on Feng Shui concepts in East Asia deserves research focus for its cultural and ecological contexts. How to contain the wind is the primary principle of Feng Shui practice in small island villages. To protect from strong wind, house-embracing Fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica Merr.) tree lines have been planted around the hamlets and along the coastline in small islands. After Tonaki and Bise villages, we continued to study the actual forest structure, e.g., the forest layout, composition, and density, and further discussed the regeneration and management of Feng Shui trees on small islands. Another objective of this study was to compare the features of the house-embracing Fukugi trees in Aguni Island to those in the two former survey sites of Tonaki Island and Bise village.House-embracing Fukugi trees along the village borderlines and in the north were thicker in Tonaki and Bise villages. In contrast, Fukugi trees on Aguni Island are laid out almost single file. Differences in village topography might contribute to the difference of layout. Hamlets in Aguni are located on the southern part of the island, backed by the high land, and somewhat far from the seashore, while Tonaki and Bise villages are located close to the sea.Fukugi tree density in Aguni was much lower, while, the mean DBH was higher than those in Tonaki and Bise. A large number of small trees were found in the lower storey in the previous survey sites in Tonaki and Bise, where the villages were built on sandy soil. In contrast, small trees were few due to the regular cutting in Aguni Island. Routine chopping and cutting of extended branches were still conducted once a year on Aguni Island. The Shimajiri Mahji soil might also contribute to the few lower storey trees.The biggest tree on Aguni island is estimated to be about 296 years old. The old trees might have been planted prior to the building of Goban villages. Different to Tonaki and Bise, hamlets on Aguni might not be Goban villages. It also suggests that Fukugi trees might have been planted prior to 1737, though central government started to recommend to plant a Fukugi tree belt around every house, every village, and along the coastline in 1737.