Tokyo Riparian Caretaker

Beehive Mouse Guard Install

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:01:24 GMT

I went out to my beehive to install a mouse guard over the entrance. This is my first swarm of bees. I caught them in April 2025. I bought this hive in 2023. I am building Layens hives and swarm traps over the winter. I am nearly finished with the first Layens hive and I will make a video about that soon.

US Military Driver Threatened Bicyclists and a Japanese Driver by Playing Chicken

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Fri, 16 May 2025 10:28:58 GMT

The driver of the blue car with Y plate passed 2 bicyclists and a parked car by playing chicken with a Japanese driver. By law his turn comes last. The two bicyclist and the parked car are using the same lane he is in and they are in front of him. Vehicles in front of you in the same lane have the right of way, even if they are bicycles or cars that have stopped in the road. Moving into the oncoming lane and challenging the driver or drivers there to either hit you head on or use their brakes is not how you're supposed to drive. I am notifying the military police at the nearby base and sending them a link to this video. I hope they yank his SOFA license and make him walk or ride a bicycle before he kills someone.

Construction Zone Carbrain

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 04:10:51 GMT

While riding my bicycle on a sidewalk, that is also a decent bike path, I was forced onto the road by a construction zone. The construction worker directing traffic first appeared to be stopping northbound traffic and I was ready to stop. Suddenly he began directing the cars behind me forward. To which I responded by also proceeding forward. His belief that all bicyclist should yield to drivers, even when the bicyclist clearly has the right of way, is the only dangerous thing in this video. #Carbrain #FuckCars #PedestrianRights #CyclistRights #motonormativity

January 2024 River Cleanup

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 18:03:24 GMT

In January 2024 I took a total of 7 days, spread out over a couple of weeks, to clean up the trash under the bridge. I can't just walk past pollution in a natural area and pretend I don't see it. I intend to put cameras on the bridge to catch people in the act. I doubt the police will do anything, even with video evidence. Japanese cops are pretty useless. I have already began to clean again this year. The plants are too thick and the insects are too hungry when it's warm outside. Cleaning under the bridge is a winter project. #Pollution #Litter #Tokyo #UnseenJapan #FuckCars #Urbanism #Japan

Mort the Boar: Jan 2025

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 16:35:37 GMT

Mort is back and bigger. He is sporting his winter coat.
Behind him there are two bee hive boxes on stands; they are covered in camouflage nets. I save my cooking scraps like vegetable peels and hard parts of broccoli etc and leave them out for the animals. The cameras let me see the animals but they also provide security for my bee hive boxes.
The top of those boxes is about 120cm. I estimate the top of Mort's back at about 80-90cm.
He isn't the biggest one I have caught on camera but he is the only one I have met in person.

Mort the Boar: By the Beehives

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 16:12:23 GMT

Mort has put on some weight and shed his winter coat. By the time this video was made, he had scared the crap out of me under a nearby bridge while I was picking up garbage. He was eating mulberries off the ground and the traffic noise from the bridge kept him from hearing me approach. I was looking down picking up trash and didn't see him. By the time he noticed me I was within 1 meter of him. He took off running and I jumped backward. Then he turned toward me and started walking. I raised my hands and began talking. He didn't understand my words but he got my intent. I didn't want any trouble. He went back to eating a little further away and I went back to picking up trash. Then a few weeks later he jumped out of the bushes and took my daughter's shoe and ran with it. He wanted us to play with him. We gave him all the food we had and retrieved the shoe the next day.

Mort The Boar: The first time I cought him on camera

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 15:51:43 GMT

I gave him the nick name Mort because he stole my daughter's shoe when she was at the river with me. If you remember Penguins of Madagascar, Mort loves feet. In this video, he had just become a young solitary male. I had not seen him yet in person. The background has an apartment building. That building is on the other side of the river. People don't visit the area where these boars live very often. Aside from myself, only four people have passed through and only one very old man walked through more than once.

Illegal Access of a Motor Vehicle on the Hiking Trail

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 12:18:35 GMT

Last year I revitalized this trail by cleaning up the trash, cutting back wild roses and other thorny plants from the trail, cutting vines down that were choking the trees, cutting branches and dead trees that were blocking the trail and making a new trail around a fallen tree that was too big to cut. I come here for many reasons, one is to get away from cars, their noise, and their pollution. When I found this guy on a gas powered scooter, most likely throwing garbage at an old abandoned hobo camp, I realized I had done too much. now I keep the trail blocked by logs. People can still walk but a scooter or motorcycle is going to have a hard time moving back there.

Drivers Behaving Badly: Driver Ignores Oncoming Bicyclist When Leaving His Private Driveway

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 11:54:01 GMT

This driver either didn't see me, which I doubt, or he didn't care. He was exiting a private drive entering a public road which means he has to yield to all traffic. That includes pedestrians and bicyclists. After he nearly hit me, rather than fall in behind me and wait to make his turn at the next intersection, he drove on the wrong side of the road through the turn. The driver in front of him at the next intersection was stopped in the middle of the road even though it's a two-way street. These guys should have their licenses taken from them.

Drivers Behaving Badly: American Driver Doesn't Check The Sidewalk Before Making Illegal Turn.

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 10:40:35 GMT

In this instance I was riding to a shop on a busy 4-lane stroad. Since I was turning right at the last intersection and moving to the sidewalk I moved to the right side with the intent of getting on the sidewalk. This is another area with a narrow 50cm / 18 inch wide sidewalk. There were already two women walking on it so I had to skirt the edge of the road until I passed them. This is not uncommon in Japan. Often, on sidewalks such as this, if two pedestrians pass one another, one has to step down into the road. The parking lot the driver was going into is not for public use. It belongs to a taxi company and only taxis may park there. Until he honked his horn, I wasn't upset. He was making an illegal turn and didn't check the sidewalk for bikes or pedestrians, almost hit me and then blamed me for his mistake.

Drivers Behaving Badly: Beating a Traffic Light Is More Important Than Human Life.

Tokyo Riparian Caretaker — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 10:17:54 GMT

As I am returning to town from the river, there is this section of road with a steep hill and a curve. It's a no passing zone. There is a narrow (50cm / 18 inch) sidewalk on the south side of the road. Most drivers know it's their responsibility to wait for an opportunity to pass slower vehicles but there are always some who think anyone not in a car should just get out of their way. This driver played chicken with a car in the oncoming lane to pass me. If the other car had not stopped, he would have hit it head-on or moved left and crushed me. #CarBrain #FuckCars #Urbanism