Geidai Hedge: Bringing native local vegetation back to Ueno

Geidai Hedge is part of the Geidai Forest project, an environmental upgrade project on the Ueno Campus of Tokyo University of the Arts. This institution, the only national arts university in Japan, was established in 1949 through the merger of Tokyo Fine Arts School and Tokyo Music School. Also known as Geidai, it is the alma mater of many leading Japanese artists, educators, and scholars.

Main Gate, Tokyo University of the Arts

There is a beloved old forest on the campus of Tokyo University of the Arts known affectionately as the Narrow Road to the Deep North. In February 2014, many of the trees in this tiny forest were damaged by a heavy snowstorm. The Geidai Forest project was inaugurated in response. It was designed to restore the Narrow Road to the Deep North as a forest reserve. The idea also emerged of planting a series of hedges around the campus perimeter — the Geidai Hedge.

Ueno is located at the edge of the Musashino Plateau, a region of lush vegetation surrounded by broadleaf evergreen forest. It has been the scene of human activity since prehistoric Jomon times. In the Edo period (1600-1868) it was enclosed in the precincts of the Kaneiji temple. From the late nineteenth century it became a cultural center as art galleries, museums, and universities were built there. But as contacts with the outside world increased, more and more non-native plant species arrived and expanded their habitat. The Geidai Forest project seeks to bring back the diversity of native Japanese flora that once grew in Ueno, thus recreating the original scenery of the Musashino Plateau.

The greenery of Geidai Hedge nicely sets off  Old Brick Building I and II

Over forty species of evergreen and deciduous seedlings are used for Geidai Hedge. Young seedlings of evergreens like spotted laurel and black pine and deciduous plants like Japanese kerria and Japanese maple are planted in dense formation. They are then left to grow and tended as necessary. Once they reach a certain size, they are pruned so that the foliage gradually thickens.

Bright yellow Japanese kerria flowers in early summer

The iron fence ringing the campus has seen better days. Under the Geidai Hedge project, it is gradually being removed and replaced by a luscious hedge ablaze with seasonal colors. The hedge is being extended in sections several dozen meters long.

The increased greenery attracts a greater variety of insects

Hedges in Japan typically consist of evergreen shrubs, but Geidai Hedge is different. Once autumn arrives, it becomes a patchwork of colors as the leaves turn and fall. It thus gives a sense of the changing seasons. That is part of its magic.

Japanese spiraea, a deciduous shrub long beloved of the Japanese. It is mentioned in the tenth-century Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.

The Geidai Hedge initiative has been widely publicized on and off campus. It is supported by citizen volunteers and backed by crowdfunding. The university’s campus festival, Geisai, featured an exhibit showcasing the Geidai Forest reserve and the Geidai Hedge project. This acquainted visitors with the planting process. It also displayed landscapes, along with leaves and harvested berries and seeds.

A commemorative plaque on the hedge acknowledging the project’s supporters

Restoring the plant life of the Musashino Plateau promises to transform the university campus. Geidai Hedge is breaking down the barriers with the surrounding neighborhood, helping make Ueno Park one continuous forest.

Plants starting to thrive again after the ordeal of winter