Unique activity of our student, "What are you doing?"
What is “Biology Circle”?

Yusei Kato
Biology Circle Organizer
School of Science and Engineering 3rd Year

Black-Crowned Night Heron chicks on the Sanbo Temple Lake.

A report of our ongoing 40-year study of bird behavior.

When you hear the phrase “Biology Circle” (Seibutsu Dokokai in Japanese — SDK for short), what comes to your mind? Yucky, gruesome, dissecting things, something to avoid as much as possible? If you find yourself getting that kind of reaction, then please read the rest of this article.

In spite of its name, the Biology Circle is actually a type of outdoor club. We don't so much do biology research as go to the sea and mountains and play around. “So all you do is play around?” you may ask, but that's actually not the case either: we also do proper academic, scientific work.

Our largest project is the regular observations we do at Shakuji Park. Twice a month, we go to the area around the Sanbo Temple Lake in Shakuji Park, located in Nerima Ward, and observe bird behavior. For two hours starting from 9:30 A.M, we walk twice around the lake and count the number of birds we see or hear. Pretty serious stuff, right? Not only that, you might be surprised to hear that this project has been going on for over forty years. I myself have participated in this activity. Seen from afar, it really does seem a little boring. However, you can't begin to understand how much fun it is after only one or two experiences. Only by engaging in the project throughout the year and noticing the changing seasonal environment of Shakuji Park can you truly enjoy this activity. Whenever we explain our activities to Waseda students, we say, “It's like going to Maeyao (a Thai restaurant near Toyama Campus)”. Even though you might not like the food at first, after going a couple of times, you become hooked. Another similarity is the fact that there are different tastes available every day. It really is like Maeyou. Apart from this project, the Biology Circle has other unique activities going on too. We even have our own small lodge in the mountains. After reading this, if you're at all interested in this club, please do come visit our room. We hope to see you in Room E-723 in the East Wing of the Student Building.

At last year's summer camp (at Iriomote Island). (The author is the one kneeling in the middle of the front row).