[O-06_30PO1] Geoparks in Japan

[O06-P31] The picture book about geo-stories of Toay-Usu global geopark

*Nire KAGAYA¹, Yoshiaki HATA¹, Asami NAKAYA¹, Kazuya ENDO¹, Masato TAKEKAWA¹, Wataru HIROSE¹, Hikaru SASAKI², Mayuko SASAKI² (1.Toya-Usu Global Geopark Council, 2.SESENSITKA)

Keywords:Geopark, geo-story, Toya, Usu

Toya-Usu global geopark is a volcanic geopark located in Hokkaido in northern Japan. There are major farms producing vegetables and fruits in this area, and the lands the crops are grown on contain a moderate amount of alkaline ash and pumice from the Toya volcano and the Usu volcano. Therefore, the soil is well suited for cultivation, with a balanced pH and good runoff of water. Also, there are forests in various transition stages around Mt. Usu. This produces bio-diversity with each environmentally-accepted creature. This is due to frequent disturbance and restoration by the eruptions of Usu volcano in recent years. Because of this, we can find a lot of hidden tales "Geo-Stories", associated with the activity of the living Earth when we focus on the different aspects of local industry, people's livelihood, and the natural habitats of living things. In 2014, Toya-Usu global geopark produced the picture book Toya-Usu Global Geopark Storybook in order to comprehend the relationship between the worlds above and under the ground world. It is edited to include easy-to-understand text and illustrations to reach local people of all ages.