Distribution and structural character of KUNE(high hedge of farmhouses) in the Kanto district

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In the first term of research I looked into some examples of KUNE(high hedge of farmhouses) in several districts: Hokkaido, Yamagata, Nagano, Shimane and collected the literature and documents for getting the general information and expert knowledge. In the second term I investigated KUNE in the Kanto district, especially north-western part of Chiba-prefecture. I could see, that many KUNE still survived there. The research area was almost field or ricefield on the bottomland of the Yedogawa-river. The extent of a area was 2 km north-south and 1 km east-west. There were about 60 KUNE(it included only traces or bases of KUNE). Typical treekinds of KUNE were llex integral, Camellia japonica, Padocarpus macrophylla etc. These KUNE(height 4.5-6.0 m) surrounded rectangular sites of farmhouses. Treekind of KUNE facing south was almost llex integral and north Camellia japonica. The longest Camellia-KUNE was nearly 40m. The oldest farmer settled down there 500 years ago, but trees were partly renovated. These trees of KUNE were cared for trimming once per year by gardeners or farmers themselves.