"Have you ever paid attention to the surroundings near your home or on your way to and from school? If you stop and look carefully, you'll see there's still a lot of nature around us. Let's go out and discover the nature that is near us."

It was with this simple idea that Nojima Nature Explorers, an eco club consisting of 148 elementary and middle school children living in and around the city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, was started. The club's name in Japanese, Nojima Shizen Kansatsu Tankentai, is a bit unique: The word tankentai (which means "expedition" or "exploration party") is made up of three kanji characters, but in the club's name the second of these is replaced with another character that is read the same - ken - but means "to look." This name was invented to express the club's vision of having the children directly see and feel whatever catches their curiosity in the natural environment around them.

The beginning of the Nojima Nature Explorers dates back to cleanup activities at Nojima Beach in Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama. Yokohama is a large coastal city, but much of its coastline has been altered due to development, and Nojima Beach is the last remaining natural beach. In 1997 the city called on its residents to protect this beach, and since then a cleanup event called All Clean Nojima Beach has been held every June, which is environment month in Japan. Taking advantage of this occasion when many residents come together, some middle-school students and others voluntarily launched the Nojima Nature Explorers. It was registered as a Junior Eco Club in 1999.

Three full years since its founding, the elementary and middle school kids who are the official members of the Nojima Nature Explorers now hold activities on a monthly basis with the help of many supporters. One of the highlights of 2002 was the annual beach cleanup, which took place on May 26. (The event is usually held in June, but in 2002 it was moved to May due to the timing of the rainy season and the tide.)

Under a clear sky, close to 400 people - including the members of the Nojima Nature Explorers, the club's supporters, and volunteers - gathered at Nojima Beach. The beach was littered with glass, cigarette butts, empty cans, and other trash, and it stank with the smell of decaying sea lettuce, a kind of seaweed that had washed in from the sea. Wearing gloves, the participants went about picking up the garbage, separating it into burnables and nonburnables. The sea lettuce had to be drained in nets before being dumped into cargo containers. This was very hard work, because the wet seaweed was quite heavy.

Thanks to the large number of participants, it only took about an hour for the beach to become clean. It was now time for the Nojima Nature Explorers to begin their "exploration." With the help of the Sea Beautification Society, a group that has expert knowledge about the marine environment of Nojima, the children tried their hands at hauling a beach seine (a large fishing net that is pulled ashore so as to gather up many fish at once) and collected some more trash from the sea. Putting the fish and other creatures that got caught in the seine into fish tanks, they observed these creatures as they listened to explanations by a member of the society.

Every year the Nojima Nature Explorers hold camp activities in various locations to come into closer contact with nature. In 2001 the club went on a four-day camp in the summer. The kids made many discoveries in the woods, where they observed the trees, plants, and flowers around them and became more familiar with the natural environment.

The 2002 summer camp took place on the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. The 62 participants engaged in such activities as observing sea creatures and making an early-morning visit to a fish market. At the fish market they learned some new things about fish from the men working there, and they also learned about the people who live around Tokyo Bay. Later, they took an excursion on a hired fishing boat to an offshore farm of a fish called red sea bream. During the camp the kids composed a song with lyrics that go like this:

  Yes, let's go to the sea
  On a journey into nature
  Adventure—our dreams will come true
  Traveling on the Boso Peninsula,
  Let's get to know nature
  Can't protect nature?
  That's no good!

Fueled by the children's adventurous spirit and strong desire to get to know the natural environment, the club continues to be very active. In October 2002 it held an outing called Overnight Hike 2002, in which the participants walked a distance of 19 kilometers along a mountain route in Kanagawa Prefecture, leaving late at night and arriving at the goal early the next morning. The members of the Nojima Nature Explorers are always ready for more adventure!