The theme of this paper is evaluation in the formation process of landscape by planting in the Kyoto urban area and its suburb, Arashiyama mountain area in the postwar. In this paper, we analyze the actual condition of evaluation of landscape, use cherry trees, pine trees and maples for an example as constitution trees of the landscape and clarify the mechanism of the landscape formation. Then we elucidate the constitution of people participating in the subject, landscape that they aspire, and the context of the times.
In the urban area, we have already discovered that the common keyword “scenic” often appears as the intent of planting from the 1880s to the 1930s. However, the purpose and context of the word “scenic” had various meanings and contexts since “scenic” had different purposes depending on the intention of each planting.
In the postwar Kyoto urban area, cherry trees have been planted based on specific concepts in each era. From the 1940s through the 1960s, the city of Kyoto planted Someiyoshino based on the keyword “sightseeing”. Then, they used cherry trees in order to express the Kyoto likeness. In the 1970s, Satozakura came into use as part of environmental measures and tree-planting campaigns. After the 1980s, rows of cherry trees were established as part of high-quality spaces for water-lovers and the scene which symbolizes Heiankyo.
On the other hand, Arashiyama first began to attract attention as a scenic spot in the 9th century due to the attractions of its autumn leaves. In the late 13th century, cherry trees which grew in Yoshino first have been implanted in Arashiyama. From that time, Arashiyama was planting of cherry and pine trees. However, in 1871, Arashiyama came under the jurisdiction of the Osaka Regional Forestry Office as a national forest, and the prohibition on felling trees was lifted. Setsuko Nakajima analyzes that the movement of the forest scene maintenance is produced in new forest regime after this 1971 and the idea of landscape conservation is developed in the early years of the Showa era. And then, the office created an Arashiyama Scenic Forest Management Plan in 1933. The plan was to finish the area into a beautiful mountain view, by developing a forest based mainly on Akamatsu and Yamazakura.
The Osaka Regional Forestry Office changed its handling of Arashiyama in the 1960s as planting of trees in urban areas progressed. A management plan for sightseeing was drafted, and as a result, it was decided that the agency would protect the area going forward as a noted site for viewing autumn leaves. There were two reasons for this switch in handling. First, the urban area was full of cherry trees. The second reason was the characteristics of maple trees.
Due to management in the 1960s, Arashiyama in about 1980 was overgrown with maples, and there was a reduction in pine and cherry trees. The Kyoto Regional Forestry Office was facing two problems—changes in the forest appearance and disaster risk—and they began formulating a policy for general management to achieve disaster prevention and landscape protection. In this management plan, there was a need to restore the landscape of cherry and pine trees which had been maintained by generations of managers since cherry trees were planted in the late 13th century. As stated above, people participating in the subject assume the landscape aspiring, and the landscape is formed on the basis of it.
