The first ecotour group from Japan, consisting mainly of the staff and leading members of the Daichi consumers group

(1) The Samarga river valley in the northern Primorsky Region beckons Japanese ecotourists

On the afternoon of June 26, 2000, the Japanese ecotourists including an NHK correspondent were met upon arrival in Khabarovsk by Victor Nosov of the Agzu Commune, the host organization in the Samarga valley, a cameraman from Vladivostok NHK and a local MD who will guard us against the virus-carrying ticks known to pose an occasional danger at this time of the year.
This was a very special moment because the occasion marked the first ever sizable ecotourist group to visit this part of the Russian Far East, and as such, was accompanied by an air of expectation of the unknown adventure as well as uncertainty about what might be in store.

From left facing the camera, Dr. Vodim Vasiljevich, Victor Nosov, and Sergei Zolotukhin of TINRO Khabarovsk office getting acquainted with the tour leaders at the dinner table

As was so designed from the beginning, the ecotour was to establish direct people-to-people ties between Japan and Russia in general, and, the Japanese consumers in and around Tokyo and the people of Agzu in the Samarga valley in particular.
And then, to the extent the ecotourism project succeeds, all other related plans are likely to move ahead such as the building and operating of a small cold storage and fish-smoking plant in Agzu specializing in custom processing for the ecotourists and sport fishermen. And, once such a custom processing operation for these visitors is firmly in place, the people of Agzu can naturally look forward to extending their activities to include the commercial processing and packaging of, not only fish, but also NTFP products.

Since there is no road access to Agzu, we flew a chartered military helicopter from Khabarovsk to be dropped in a lush green field near the village

The group got a kick out of the fact that the chartered heli had a big red star on the side, reminding them of the stark changes that have taken place in Russia. Upon arrival at the heliport in Agzu, we were met by Arcadii Kaza, the chief of the Agzu indigenous people's commune. And, from where we alighted from the helicopter, we walked through the woods of birches, aspens and Mongolian oaks to the Agzu village with a bending small stream to our left pouring into the Agzu river, which in turn join the great Samarga river on the other side of the village.

In the middle of a large green field, we stood waiting for the luggage to be unloaded, fighting off an army of small bugs in the air.

The village is located on an elevated flatland between two streams pouring into the Samarga river, and has a population of over 200 consisting of 61 households.
We are all from the urban centers of Japan, and knew it would be difficult to understand how people manage life without modern utilities and road access to and from the outside world. For them, it was to be an altogether different and exciting experience for most participants.

I and Arcadii embraced each other on the ground because we knew all of us had worked so hard to make this happen

Arcadii and I first met each other in the early spring of 1999 when he visited Japan invited by the Friends of the Earth-Japan. At that time, he asked me what might be possible, and I said there ought to be something we can do together next year, and promised to work on it.
I joined the FoE-Japan-sponsored September trip to Agzu last year, and then once again, met with Arcadii and Victor in Bladivostok in March this year to discuss the ecotour project. Indeed, it was a joyous reunion for both of us.

(2) Downstream boating and fishing trip to see the Sea of Japan and beyond

This type of "fresh" or "live" driftwood is seen not only along the tributaries like this, but also huge trees hung up along the mainstream of the Samarga river itself

The crystal clear water of the stream was cold even in late June. Evidence abounds pointing to the fact that this part of the Primorsky Region still remains untouched by material civilization. The trees uprooted by the spring floods are hung up high above ground in many places indicating extremely high water levels.
The pristine beauty of the nature and the utter placidity of the surroundings were overwhelming to those of us from the Tokyo metropolis teeming with a well over 10 million population.

The Vladivostok port remains open during the coldest winter month of February.

We were divided into several small groups each onboard a handmade slim river boat designed to negotiate rapid shallows with two local men adroitly steering it with long poles.
We fished as we moved downriver, using spoons aimed at giant iwana, or sea-run chars. In Hokkaido, their landlocked cousins called "Oshorokoma" grow only up to several inches and remain pale-meated, but these fellows are pink-meated, as shown in the pictures below, and often come in sizes between ten and twenty inches.

As we moved downstream, the water volume and width rapidly increased, and we began seeing cherry salmon jumps here and there

The river boats went down splashing water all over us, and it also began raining intermittently to my regret that I left my rain gear at the Kindergarten assuming it would be a fine day.
A few hours later, while each of us caught a few iwanas, we heard someone exclaim "Got a cherry salmon!" Thereupon, we knew we were approaching that part of the river where we can hope to catch trophy-size cherry salmon at long last. About half an hour later, we got ashore where there was a large sand and gravel bar suitable for camping.

When night fell, there was nothing more fitting than the old Russian folk songs to render a poetic quality to the flickering campfire and our own long shadows in the surrounding total darkness.

There was a camp fire site from the past years, and some of us helped make fire with driftwood while others got right down to the stream angling for cherry salmon. And, lo and behold, they struck our lures left and right!
Before we knew it, we had caught enough for the fish soup dinner for more than thirty of us. Cherry salmon caught here ranged between 3 and 4 kilograms, and red-meated, firm and rich in oil -- something no body in Japan, including the most avid sport fishermen, would believe until this ecotour will be aired nationwide on the NHK television network later during this month.

As shown here, the cherry salmon run of the Samarga river consists mainly of the size between 3 and 4 kilograms, and even in late June, fish are still in prime condition with no sign of water marks.

Japan's wild cherry salmon stocks have been seriously depleted due to commercial fishery pressure and the water quality deterioration of the spawning rivers. Besides, the artificial rehabilitation of the stocks by means of hatchery and fry/smolt release programs has encountered a number of difficult problems yet to be overcome. It is, therefore, imperative that the countries around the rim of the Sea of Japan should work together to protect the Russian wild stocks, while also jointly exploring the ways and means of long-term stock rehabilitation.

The tents were being erected by the Agzu boatmen for us, and we all went to bed before midnight after a joint outdoor dinner.

It is in this sense that ecotourism of the Samarga river valley will go a long way in reminding not only the people of Japan and Russia, but also among those others who live around the rim of the Northern Pacific of the importance of guarding this precious gem of wild cherry salmon stock in the Samarga and other Russian rivers pouring into the Sea of Japan against relentless pressure of commercial fishery, and that we ought to develop a cooperative international regime for maintaining the integrity of these precious wild stocks.

Perhaps it was the first time so many people talked in Japanese in this part of the Russian Far East. We all tremendously enjoyed the dinner with Russian votka

Night fell and, as luck would have it, good weather held for the evening. We baked the fish we caught and sang many songs together and talked about life and the future of Agzu with the boatmen around the camp fire.
No one wanted to crawl into tents so early because it was a glorious night after a rather trying boat ride which took much of the day in an intermittent rain. By the time the fire died out, it was well past midnight and it was pitch dark, and it began raining again to the chagrin of those who slept close to the edges of the tents where the wet canvas roof came low touching their sleeping bags.

(3) The peculiarities of the salmonid species of the Samarga river as seen by a sport fisherman

We present some of the pictures of the fish caught by the members of the ecotour during the two-day expedition down the river. The large fish are cherry salmon of various sizes ranging between 3 and 4 kilograms. The slender and smaller fish are the giant sea-run iwana, or oshorokoma as they are called in Hokkaido. By "sea-run," it is meant that fish go into the sea during the course of their maturity, and the abundance of feed makes them grow much larger, and their meat turns pinkish red by the pigment of the small animals they feed on during their sea life, which does not happen to Japan's oshorokoma because they remain landlocked.

S. Tanaka, a Hokkaido member of the group, hooks a trophy-size cherry salmon. Almost all of those who fished did catch cherry salmon and/or iwana

The sand bar we camped was also a good fishing spot. Almost all those who had fishing tackles did catch either cherry salmon or iwana, often both of them. Everybody was excited because catching a wild cherry salmon of around 2 kilograms or more in a Japanese river makes a big news in the Japanese national sport newspapers with pictures prominently placed.
It is in this sense that the Samarga river ecotour does have a potential of becoming one of the coveted hot spots for the Japanese ecologically minded anglers to whom the combination of the beautiful natural setting and the trophy sizes of the fish make an irresistible combination.

Tanaka's proud moment. I am sure he will download this as soon as he sees it at his home in Hokkaido

And, once again, it should be emphasized that it is because of the wealth of this natural resource that the Russian communities along the rivers that pour into the Sea of Japan must jealously guard this precious wild cherry salmon stocks if they are to build their respective ecotourism as locally profitable businesses.
It will be especially important that the ban on the illegal high-sea fishing off the Primorsky Region's coast lines be strictly enforced because cherry salmon runs are most vulnerable when they are intercepted as they converge around the mouths of these rivers ready to go upstream in the early spring and summer months.
In fact, efforts should be made to appeal to the sport fishermen of the world, especially in Japan, to organize an international NGO for the protection of the wild cherry salmon stocks which only occur in the Sea of Japan and at this point in time are not too far away from reaching the status of endangered species if the present mode of commercial fishery, both legal and illegal, is allowed to continue.

This cherry salmon is almost 4 kilograms in round weight, and typically broad-bodied as cherry salmon should when they achieve this weight range.

In Japan, the cherry salmon caught by the set nets around the western and southwestern shores are the migratory stocks ranging from less than 1 kilogram to the occasional 3 kilograms. Thus, they are classed by weight as follows.

LL Size (extra large) .....3 kilograms and up
L Size ....................2 kilograms and up
M Size ....................1.2 kilograms and up
S Size ....................0.7 kilograms and up

Even from this size classification, it is obvious that the average weight of the cherry salmon caught off the Japanese shores is much smaller than that of the Samarga river stock.

These iwanas were caught from the Samarga river bank within an easy walking distance from the Agzu village.

Now, let's move on to the sea-run chars which are called "iwana" in general and "oshorokoma" in Hokkaido, Japan. As already explained, the picture below shows the color of the meat of a fish split from the back side. It is as pink as most pink salmon, and sometimes darker. In order to show the relative size, I placed a toilet role I brought from Japan, which is about 11 centimeters in diameter, thus, indicating that the fish are about 3.5 times that, i.e., in the range of 35 to 40 centimeters in length. This is critically important because it makes a meaningful difference from the much smaller landlocked Japanese cousins.

As seen in this photo, the meat is clearly pink. This is true of almost all iwana I have seen so far, including the smaller size shown below.

Iwana is the most commonly caught salmonid species in the Samarga river, but in addition, few other species are found in relatively less abundance such as lenok and halius little known to the Japanese sport fishermen.
The recommendations are that you should focus on the giant iwana fishing, fly fishing and other artificial lure fishing depending on the part of the year you happen to be out there. In fact, these iwana are also excellent fish to eat, and the Virtual Foundation Japan is now planning to assist the Agzu Commune to acquire its own small smoke house so that it can custom-process the visiting sport fishermen's catches into high-quality smoked products in time for the 2001 season.

Since the picture failed to depict the deep pink meat color due to outdoor light condition, I caught another fish to take an indoor picture

This writer had originally entertained the idea of recommending the Agzu Commune to commercially harvest the cherry salmon at a sustainable effort level as the principal basis for the village's economic self-sufficiency.
But, after a year's soul-searching research effort, and, more convincingly after the successful completion of the first ecotour this summer, he came to a different conclusion that the cherry salmon stocks should be kept away from commercial exploitation and they should be used only as a major attraction of this area's ecotourism. For, we now know they tast too good, and once the relentless pressure of commerical fishery is on, the resource are likely to sustain severe damages within a short span of a few years.

I split it open just after catching it, and the meat was very thick and firm, the meat color being much closer to the real one.

Such conclusion is also based on the newly identified possibility that there is a good possibility for the Agzu Commune to work on the other species, especially the read-meated (see the pictures) sea-run chars, which promises to have a good marketing potential if properly processed and packaged for speciality markets.
It is with this possibility in mind that this writer sees the economic feasibility of the Agzu Commune's owning and operating its own small-scale cold storage and smoke house, mainly geared to cater to the needs of the visiting sport fishermen, but also capable of producing limited lots of value-added smoke products for commercial sale.

(4) Back home to the Kindergarten of Agzu

The Samarga water runs rapid and deep, but when it comes over the shallows, it crashes down in frenzy torrents.

After the overnight boating and fishing expedition, we returned to the Agzu village in late afternoon. All of us came back impressed by the skill of the boatmen who negotiated the countless bottom-grinding shallow rapids. Some of us asked how they will know exactly which part of the river is safe on a certain day, their answer was the "color" off the water.
The boats as shown here are the type the Udehe people build by themselves following the tradition of the olden days. The only difference is that the peculiarly Udehe waterbreak is no longer there, and an outboard gas engine has been added.

We finally reached home near the village where there stood several sheds used both for boat repair and parts storage.

The shallow rapids are the overriding reason why the Udehe boats are light and slim to attain a very shallow draft. But, because of it, its loading capacity remains limited up to two to three passengers in addition to two boatmen, one at the bow and the other at the stern.
It was because of this that we were divided into seven to eight small groups riding on so many boats racing as far down the river (see the picture on top of this report) to stand on a large gravel hill overlooking the Sea of Japan.

(5) Information technology's handsome dividend for rural communities

All of the male members of the tour group came out helping unpack the crates, assemble and install the wind-powered generator

One of the priority agenda once we were back in the village was to unpack the wooden boxes we brought from Japan containing a hybrid power generating unit donated by the Sophia Engineering Co., Ltd of Kyushu, Japan. Mr. Hidenori Eguchi, the owner of the firm, visited Agzu last summer to examine the relative advantages of alternative energy sources, and this unit was his tangible response to the dire need of powering the high-power computer unit just installed at the office of the Agzu Commune thanks to the financial assistance of the Friends of the Earth-Japan.

The wind part of the hybrid unit is manufactured in St. Petersburg in Russia, and reputed for its excellent performance

This idea came to pass based upon the field survey made last summer by Mr. Eguchi himself, who later came to the conclusion that water power was difficult to use because of the spring flooding and the relatively flat terrain around the Agzu village. For the time being, rather than coming up with a plan to replace and expand the existing oil-fueled generator, it was decided that the communication need should be given the top priority if Agzu is to start its ecotour business this summer and plans to expand it in the next year.
Thus, it is calculated that if the wind and solar systems are combined, as this is the case, the Agzu Commune will be able to use the computer system 24 hours a day and seven days a week throughout the year, making it possible to stay in contact at all times with the outside parties including the Virtual Foundation Japan.

Here, Arcadii sits in front of the newly installed computer ready for Internet access once it is hooked up via satellites.

For, this will enable the Commune to access the Internet once the satellite communication service is made available, bringing the village of Agzu and its 200 strong residents in direct contact with the outside world. We will place our top priority this year on the establishment of the Internet/PC communication system between Japan and the communities of the Primorsky Krai so that we can begin providing the vitally needed technical and management information needed if the Russian rural communities are to succeed in developing their own small businesses making the sustainable use of their local resource.

These cherry salmon were processed by the Agzu Commune according to the specifications conveyed to them via the first ever virtual OJT program

Now that the computer system is in place with a self-contained power system, the Virtual Foundation Japan will continue to develop communication software for providing the Agzu Commune with the needed vocational/skill training courses and technological information necessary for the designing, installation and operating of a modest fish processing plant.
The Virtual OJT program, as it is called, already has its prototype course on line in two languages, English and Russian, on the small-lot fish custom-processing and -salting methods information especially for this year's ecotour. In fact, the products produced by the Agzu Commune were more than well-received by the visiting Japanese fish expert.

(6) Cultural exchange: Learning about the history and the cultural heritage of the Udehe people

Traditional dance performed by Agzu children in colorful native costumes. The youngest one in black costume was a mere kindergarten child last year

Getting acquainted with the members of the Agzu village was one of the group's prime interest, and the Agzu Commune arranged an all-afternoon festival of dancing and music capped by an open arts and craft bazaar in the front yard of the Kindergarten.
The Udehe people's traditional dresses are the result of the artful incorporation of cultural influence of Zarist Russia and the late Chinese empire of Qing, hailing back into the early 18th century.

Villagers turned out to watch the festival. The fund-raising bazaar turned out to be a great success

Among the villagers who came out to join the festival was an old Udehe lady who sang dance songs in her own language while beating the traditional Udehe drum.
I was quite surprised to find out that there were a lot of similarities between the Udehe dances and the Eskimo dances I so often enjoyed during my years in Alaska in the 1960s and 1970s. And, it was not all! Another shocking discovery was still in store that afternoon further pointing to the cultural semilarities between them.

Scene of a surprising martial art demonstration by the village youths. They countered the Japanese kendo challenge well

In addition to young ladies' dance, the Agzu village also staged a very interesting Udehe martial art demonstration. The weapons used were uniquely decorated long lances, and the two opponents demonstrated a series of impressive combat forms. It left with us an interesting question whether such form of martial art was a product of their early contact with the outside invaders, or a purely internal development within their own culture.

As the dances came to an end, we thought that was it for the afternoon, but it proved wrong soon afterward

The real shock came later when a table was set in the garden displaying a wide rage of the Udehe arts and craft for sale on the spot. Among them I found a few strange-looking dolls carved out of a hunk of wood. When asked, a Udehe lady told me it was their god called "Udeh."
"Udeh" or otherwise, it was almost an exact replica of the Eskimo god, and also known in Japan from several decades back as "Biliken," or "Biliken-san." It was such a familiar figure in my own childhood. Then, as a child, I wondered if the strange name "Biliken" was a Japanese word.

Lo and behold! This old lady drummer volunteered a forceful dance which looked like the old Eskimo dance I so often saw in Alaska

As all the numbers performed by young ladies were over, she came forth and began dancing to her own drum beat. Her dance was so powerful and intense that I would be surprised if she once was, or may still be, a priest/shaman of the village.
It is sincerely hoped that even if the Agzu Commune should succeed in launching its planned businesses, the people of Agzu will continue to hold onto their cultural heritage of the past. One encouraging sign is that the people there seem to value their own life style, Udehe and non-Udehe alike. The village of Agzu seemed to be a small peaceful melting pot in Russia's own way. Whether modernization will transform it into a "tossed salad" situation like in the U.S. is yet to be seen.

Talk about sharing the distant ancestral origins, this young lady can perfectly pass as a typical Japanese beauty anywhere in Japan

Another striking experience was that so many of the Udehe people we encountered look so much like us in Japan - just familiar faces you would expect to run into any afternoon any place in Japan. And, once again, talking out of my 3 decades of observation in the U.S., there is a much closer resemblance between the Udehe and the Japanese, as evidenced by this photo of a young lady, than any of the indigenous peoples of North America including the Eskimos across the Bering Strait.

(7) Farewell to Agzu and the Samarga valley

This group picture mares the end of the day's festivities. Hopefully, it will be downloaded and printed out in Agzu this fall via Internet

We all got together in the sunny front yard of the Kindergarten to take a group picture as a memento of this trip. Indeed, getting to know each other is the beginning of parting from one another.
Each of us will go home with a respectively different memory and experience. But, thanks to the on-going IT revolution, both the hosts and the visitors will soon be seeing and talking to each other on the Internet after this summer. There are a few obstacles that must be overcome, but nothing will be impossible in the 21st century.

Arcadii, his wife and their children posed with the members of the ecotour

It is hoped that they will get to know each other deeper, exchange ideas, useful information. Who knows? One of these days, someone in Japan might ask his Udehe friend to catch and smoke a dozen sea-run chars for his party in Tokyo.
On the other hand, someone in Agzu might ask her friend in Tokyo to send the same shoes her Japanese friend wore during her visit to Agzu in exchange for a large jar of wild bee honey. This is the kind of things I would like to see evolve in the future years as Agzu's ecotourism grows into a sustainable and profitable local business.

Kindergarten's staff and other helpers who took care of us well throughout our stay

The ecotour could not have been a success unless the Kidergarten functioned well as our staging base with room and board. This plan was made by the Agzu Commune and executed by not only the Kindergarten staff but also other helpers from the village who really took care of us well, feeding us with wonderful soups and dishes and keeping the place clean at all times.
Female members of the tour group were really impressed by some of the soups and the fruit preserves, which are now likely to be talked about in Japan.

Presentation by Mr. Fujita of a model of Japan's celebrated river boat still in use in the Shimanto river of Shikoku

To top the day's colorful events, Kazuyoshi Fujita, the leader of the Daichi organization, presented a model of a traditional river boat used on the Shimanto River of the Shikoku Island which is one of the least polluted Japanese rivers with a beautiful and well-preserved natural environment.
All of us from Japan signed their names on the bottom of the boat as the expression of his and her appreciation of the wonderful experience of visiting the Samarga valley and getting acquainted with the people of the Agzu village.

Weathered in the Kindergarten, the tour members waited aimlessly, sleeping, playing chess and shogi, occasionally looking at the dark sky outside

But, the last few days presented a problem for the ecotourists. Due to continued bad weather conditions, the chartered helicopter could not come to pick us up and go back to Khabarovsk in time for the twice-a-week flight back to Niigata.
Day after day, we all kept looking up the gray sky and thick mist blanketing the mountain ranges around the village. Without any means of modern communication, this long wait was surely an unsettling experience since we were approaching the limit beyond which the families in Japan will start making telephone calls to find out what was going on.
Fortunately, weather improved and we were out in the modern urban life again in Khabarovsk even though we missed the flight connection to Japan. We could at least make long-distance telephone calls.

(8) Coming back to Toyama, the home of masu-zushi, or vinegar-cured cherry salmon sushi production

The terminal building of the Toyama International Airport where I landed unexpectedly due to the last minute schedule change

I was booked on a Northwest flight to San Francisco on July 5, and had to get back to Japan at the very latest on the 4th. Thus, I left for Vladivostok by a night train on the 3rd, and took a July 4 Vladivostok Air's flight back to the Toyama international airport.
Interestingly, Toyama happens to be the most important center of cherry salmon consumption in Japan. The production of the so-called "masu-zushi," vinegar-cured cherry salmon sushi contained in a shallow wooden keg, is heavily concentrated in and around Toyama city for national distribution.

Cartons containing "masu-zushi" lunch boxes are awaiting pickup by the incoming long-distance train

As shown in this picture, "masu-zushi" lunch packs in cardboard cartons are found on the train platform for loading the next long-distance train for sale onboard.
I bought one as the train headed for Tokyo with the intention of not only eating it, but also take a close shot of what's inside so that it can be placed as the closing photo of this ecotour report. In a way, I can make this report a show-and-tell story for all readers to understand the life history of the prescious wild sallmon resource peculiar to the Sea of Japan from where the fish are caught to the point of final product consumption.

I bought one onboard the train I took to go back to Tokyo. It looked beautiful and appetizing, but the salmon used was not real cherry salmon

Of course, there is a catch to it. The truth is that this beautifully prepared and packed "masu-zushi" is not cherry salmon any more. Japan has depleted its own cherry salmon stock on its side of the Sea of Japan, and as a result, it is substituted by much less expensive and less tasty pink salmon which are still fairly commonly available in Japan. Commercial fishery of the cherry salmon stocks of the Samarga river is not legally allowed, but some continue to be taken ouside the river mouth and by the off-shore fisheries elsewhere during their migration.
So, as the train rolled on eastward, I finished my "pink-sushi" and gulped down the green tea that came with it. The sun was setting and skyline of the distant mountain ranges glowed in deep shade of ripe orange. "Well, I will be basking in the California sun tomorrow," I mumbled to myself and fell asleep.