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| The city of Kochi, the capital of Kochi prefecture, is
located off the coast of Tosa bay. Long ago, before the
integration of the country, Kochi was once an independent state "Tosa"
whose government built Kochi castle in Kochi. At the port of Kochi, the ships will sail off from the Urado bay to the Pacific Ocean. At the mouth of the Urado bay, Urado bridge, which was built in 1972, connects the two shores. The bridge became toll free in 2002. Before that, people went back and forth via boats that go between the eastern and western shores. Students used the boat to go to school and reading books in the boats was harmful to their eyes. The photo shows the fishing boats in the port of Urado, at the foot of Urado bridge, on the western shore of the port of Kochi. | ||
| The fishing boats set off to the sea as early as four
o'clock every morning. Before the bell rings at the temple at
seven o'clock, the captured fish will be in the market.
This is where the captured fish is cleaned, weighed, packed, and
shipped. Some of them are sold in the market right at Urado. The
port becomes quiet after the busy period. The boats will just wait
there until next morning. Only the orange buoy is there on the ground
in the port. Shown in the photo are the ivory barnacles (Balanus eburneus, Balanidae) and the blue mussle (Mytilus galloprovincialis, Mytilidae) attached firmly on the orange buoy. The blue mussles as well as the green mussles (Perna viridis, Mytilidae) are nuisance to ships and power plants since they settle and accumulate onto the walls. | ||
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Once Urado bay was polluted by the factory wastes flowing into
the sea (some 13500t per day at that time) until residents stood up to
apply mortar to the canal and stopped it. After that incident back in
1971, the water quality has improved. The Urado estuary now hosts 194
fish species including native giant seapearch (Lates japonicus,
Centropomidae) as well as rare endangered marine invertebrates. Click
here
for a list of endangered species that can be found in Kochi prefecture.
In 2004, the plan to dump sand onto the western shore, which claims to cover the polluted mud on the sea floor, has been suspended due to the active political opposition of the citizens. The official year round average temperature in the coastal area in Kochi is 17 to 18 degrees centigrade. The photo shows the popular krantz aloe (Aloe arborescens var. natalensi, Liliaceae) plants having the bright orange flowers. Click here for a close-up view of the influorescence of krantz aloe. | ||
| The sasanqua camellias (Camellia sasanqua, Theaceae)
are in full bloom in December. The sasanqua camellias are planted on
the road side, in the gardens, and in the mountains for their flowers.
The related tea plant
(C. sinensis, Theaceae) shares the grossy dark green leaves
with sasanqua. Click here for a close-up view
of tea plant.
The distinctive filaments characterize sasanqua camellias, whereas the japonicas (C. japonica) species have connate filaments. | ||
| Urado is a quiet town. There is only one bus at noon that
goes to nearby town where all the shops are. They laugh -- the
residents who do not drive must finish shopping within one hour since
there is only one return bus. It costs 520 yen just to go to a shop
there and back.
It is not that this quiet town is excluded from the outside world. There are those who prey on the residents' life savings. They do not sell things like dryers, dishwashers, and central heating systems, which might make the life of the residents easier. Instead, the "unscrupulous dealers" fix roofs with very expensive kawara's (roof-tiles) and install excessive number of fans under the floor with solar batteries. The photo shows the Urado bridge behind the shiny deep green leaves of Hawaiian hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Malvaceae) and its orange flowers. |
