A place to escape the heat in a mountain village in Hokuriku and the people who breathe the same air as the people entrusted with the forests
Updated by Yasunao Kobayashi on August 20, 2025, 9:13 PM JST
Yasuhisa KOBAYASHI
Alpha Forum, Inc.
President of Alpha Forum, Inc. and Steering Committee Member of the Platinum Forest Industry Initiative. Ltd. in 2001, taking advantage of the company's venture support program. In September 2023, he received the Wood Use System Research Association Award.
As I write this manuscript on August 12, it is raining again in Hokuriku. The previous week, it rained so hard that even in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture, roads were flooded and it took a long time to reach the office from home; on August 4, the temperature reached 39.8°C in Toyama Prefecture, the hottest temperature recorded this year. We have no choice but to tolerate the drastic climate change. Forestry workers are also screaming. Although not limited to the Hokuriku region, the decrease in winter snowfall has increased the number of areas where forestry work can be done year-round if one is careful about mud.
On the other hand, with the increase of extremely hot days in the summer, the working environment for "underbrush pickers" is particularly frightening. I try to enter the forests as early as possible during the summer season. The heat is unbearable after noon until around 3:00 p.m. I wear long sleeves, long pants, and a helmet when forestry machinery is in operation. Underbrush hunting is not a task that can be done continuously for long periods of time, but to do it on this extremely hot midsummer day would be life-threatening.
In fact, older people, around 70 years old, are more likely to be more efficient in underbrush hunting because they know the ropes of mountain walking. In addition to the way they walk, younger people may be in a hurry to get off their feet at the mere approach of a bee. Climate change is also beginning to affect the time of day of forestry workers' activities.
When I have the opportunity to speak with forest owners to expand their forest lands, I have a sudden feeling that the atmosphere is a little different. Talking with owners who are over 80 years old is a learning experience. In many cases, the forests are managed jointly by the community, and it is not uncommon for me to make multiple trips to meet with 20 to 40 forest owners. I meet one of the forest owners through some acquaintance.
We want to "restore the forest to its original beauty by replanting saplings, and make it a place where the community (village) can be a stronghold. We want to promote mountain villages through the establishment of forestry. When we told them our policy, they asked us, "Where do you live? He asked me, "Where do you live? When I answer, "I live in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture," they reply, "Oh, from the city! Having lived in Tokyo's Suginami and Edogawa wards for 30 years, it feels a little strange to say that Takaoka City is a city, but I guess that's how people in the mountain villages would describe it.
When the owner of the forest, who probably lives in the same area (within the prefecture), understands that I am interested in reviving the satoyama, he says, "Hold on a minute, I'll let you talk with Mr. 00! I'll have Mr. 00 talk to you together..." and go into the house next door. At this time, the front door and the sweeping sliding glass door are not locked. Just as if you were entering your own house, you open the door and say, "Hey, do you have a minute? and they would listen to what I had to say. It reminds me of when I went back to my parents' house in Nagano when I was a child. I thought that there was still an environment where I could talk with them at such a distance....
Next, upon entering the house, which is surrounded by a compound forest (kainyo), visitors are shown into a guest room. It is a "Makabe Japanese-style room" built in the Showa period. We sat down in a place without air conditioning and turned on a swinging fan. I honestly thought, "Seriously! It's tough to be in a room without air conditioning..." and the conversation begins. When I was in elementary school, I used to carry saplings on my back and play in the mountains..." The conversation began with an old story. In an age when there were no high-performance forestry machines, the villagers worked together to face the satoyama and communicate with each other, and I realized the depth of their efforts.
You notice that the old conversation comes to a halt. After an hour, we both begin to feel that we have breathed the same air. The other party tells me, "There is a meeting of the board of directors of the joint owners of the forest next month, and I was wondering if you could talk to them about the future utilization of the forest. Because he is a district leader who brings together the values and diversity of dozens of people, he seemed to be carefully selecting the people with whom he would speak.
As I talk to them, I also understand that it was "not about money. I want to tell them that it was part of each person's life and the basis of life in the village. I shouldn't pretend to understand here, but I can understand why they said, "Oh, you're from the city! I understand why they said that.
People have been paralyzed by the vast consumer economy, believing that the "direction of concentration in cities" is the way to affluence. I have just passed the age of 60 myself, but there are still many things I can learn from those who are one to two years my senior. There is a space where I can spend even the hottest day of the year.
A friend recently asked me, "A major lumber distributor in Tokyo has been trying to acquire forest land to recapture its business from the forestry industry, but it hasn't been successful, why is that?" The answer is because they don't breathe the same air as the villages and the people who live there. The answer is because they are not breathing the same air as the villages and the people who live there. Some owners may agree to sell their forest land for a higher price, but that is not the essence. The conversation will not move forward unless they are at least willing to live in a local city and learn from the wisdom of their ancestors who lived in mountain villages and settlements. Even if we advocate the value of biodiversity and water source recharge only with words from Tokyo, satoyama will not respond to such advocacy. Let us realize that the mountains and forests are the very air and water of life.
Urban life could be richly prettified. We would like to think about the "richness of living with satoyama" and "comfortable oneness with satoyama" that should be preserved from now on. (Yasunao Kobayashi, President, Alpha Forum, Inc. and Steering Committee Member, Platinum Forest Industry Initiative)
