Updated by "Forest Circular Economy" Editorial Board on April 13, 2025, 9:51 PM JST
Editorial Board, Forest Circular Economy
Forestcircularity-editor
We aim to realize "Vision 2050: Japan Shines, Forest Circular Economy" promoted by the Platinum Forest Industry Initiative. We will disseminate ideas and initiatives to promote biomass chemistry, realize woody and lumbery communities, and encourage innovation in the forestry industry in order to fully utilize forest resources to decarbonize the economy, strengthen economic security, and create local communities.
Forestry workers in Iide Town, Yamagata Prefecture, will hold an art event, "Lighting Up the Submerged Forest of Lake Shirakawa," from April 19. The event will utilize "submerged forests," a natural phenomenon in which white willow forests along the lakeshore sink into the water as the spring snow melts, to create a fantastic landscape woven by light and darkness. The event will be funded by a crowdfunding-type hometown tax payment, and is expected to attract attention as a sustainable tourism measure that utilizes local resources.
The submerged forests of Lake Shirakawa are a springtime tradition nurtured by the heavy snowfall of the Iide Mountain Range, one of Japan's 100 most famous mountains. The lake, which is filled to the brim with melting snow water, submerges the white willow forests along the lakeshore, creating a landscape that makes the trees seem as if they are rising from the water, The lake is popular among a wide range of people, including tourists, camera enthusiasts, campers, and canoeists, mainly during the Golden Week holidays.
This event, which uses lighting to create the beauty of natural formations, is a good example of environmentally friendly regional tourism in that it transforms a natural resource into a tourism resource without damaging it.
This time, the light-up will be partially financed by crowdfunding-type hometown tax payment. This is a mechanism whereby local governments autonomously refine tourism resources and solve regional issues together with sympathetic donors. Donors will receive local specialties as gifts in return, which is expected to expand the number of people involved and have a ripple effect on the local economy.
More than 80% of the area of Iide Town in Yamagata Prefecture is forest. The number of forestry workers has been decreasing due to depopulation, making it difficult to manage the rich forests. As a measure to promote the local community, the "Tree Makers Project," an event in which artists stay in the town to create artworks, is being conducted.
Forests and waterside landscapes have potential as tourism resources, but the challenge is how to utilize them in a "sustainable manner. Lake Shirakawa's efforts will impress upon those who are not directly involved in the forest industry or local infrastructure the value of the natural environment and the need for its conservation. The creation of tourism content that is tailored to local climate, topography, and forest conditions will also lead to the creation of local communities and a re-evaluation of forest culture.
