A warning against excessive construction activities that are destroying limited forests
Updated by Kotaro Nagasawa on July 28, 2025, 9:16 PM JST
Kotaro NAGASAWA
（Platinum Initiative Network, Inc.
Born in Tokyo in 1958. （Engaged in research on infrastructure and social security at Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. During his first few years with the company, he was involved in projects related to flood control, and was trained by many experts on river systems at the time to think about the national land on a 100- to 1,000-year scale. He is currently an advisor to Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. He is also an auditor of Jumonji Gakuen Educational Corporation and a part-time lecturer at Tokyo City University. Coauthor of "Introduction to Infrastructure," "New Strategies from the Common Domain," and "Forty Years After Retirement. D. in Engineering.
*Click here for the first part.
Kumazawa Bansan, Pioneer of Japanese Forest History, was a Thinker without Discovery: Reading "Shugi Wa Sho" and "Shugi Gaisho" (Part 1)
In 1645, at the age of 26, Bazan reappointed himself to the Okayama domain, where he was discovered by feudal lord Ikeda Mitsumasa, and three years later became the second most important retainer in the domain. 1654, at the age of 35, an unprecedented disaster occurred in the Okayama domain: the Bizen Flood of Jōōo 3 (1654). In response, Bazan opened the domain treasury to distribute stored rice to save the people, and succeeded in borrowing over 40,000 ryo of gold from the shogunate to be used for restoration. Immediately after his proposal, the Okayama Clan (1) stopped logging, (2) created forests, and (3) systematically cut down standing trees. The mountains were planted with pine trees using a large number of laborers, successfully controlling the runoff of earth and sand. This achievement became well known throughout the country and is regarded as a precursor to the "Laws of the Mountains and Rivers of the Provinces" (a 1666 directive to control development) that was later enacted by the shogunate.
Other known achievements include flood control projects for rivers in the domain, the establishment of the Okayama domain school, and his contribution to the establishment of the "Shizutani Gakko (Shizutani School)," a pioneering educational institution for the common people (hometown school), which continued in different forms until the Showa period (1926-1989). Even during the period when he was forced to leave Kyoto and move from place to place, there are records of his leadership of many civil engineering projects. Bazan was not just a writer and thinker, but a pioneer in disaster response, civil engineering, and education.
A few descriptions of Bansan's forests can be found in the Shugi Gaisho. First of all, it says that the salt beach and pottery industry must not be increased. These two industries use a large amount of forest resources, so the forests would be depleted. Bansan emphasizes that "the mountains and forests are the nation's main resources. Mountains with vegetation do not drop sediment into the rivers, so there is no fear of flooding. Mountains with trees have the power to create clouds and rain because of their high divine energy, and this will eliminate water shortages. This is repeatedly stated.
He also points out that excessive building activity, especially the construction of temples, is destroying mountain forests. Japan is a small country with a limited amount of forests," he said. It is only natural that what is produced in a country should be in proportion to the strength of its mountains and forests. The present-day ordained monks' halls and temples (omission) are lined with a great number of buildings with very few people. The present-day ordained temples and shrines (omission) are built so many times with so few people that it is impossible to count the amount of forests used up each time, or to build new ones, or to rebuild them.
Why the vigorous building activity? According to Bansan, it is because the world has become peaceful and conceited. In turbulent times, temples and halls burnt down by the military will not be rebuilt. If such a state of affairs continues for the next 100 years, he wrote with irony, the mountains will be as thick as they were and the rivers will be as deep as they were. He added, "People do not know the root cause of the devastation of mountains and rivers. When the divine energy of the mountains, forests, rivers, and streams runs out, all sorts of bad things will happen, including disasters such as the Onin War.
The "Shugi Gaisho" contains detailed descriptions of river improvement. The Shugi Gaisho (Shugi Gaishi) contains detailed descriptions of river improvement, including specific methods of improvement for the Kizu River, the Seta River, and the Yamato River, among others. In addition, according to papers written by Bansan researchers, there are abundant descriptions of forests in other works by Bansan, such as "Daigaku 或問," but a modern translation is not available, and the author has not read it directly, so it is omitted from this report. However, a modern translation is not available, and the author has not read the book directly, which is a great pity.
Although Kumazawa Bansan is not often mentioned in textbooks, a little research reveals that he is appreciated by many people and is known to have had an ideological impact.
For example, roughly speaking, roughly speaking, Georg Oldman called Bansan "a man of great talent for a hundred years. Shimazu Nariakira, the lord of the Satsuma domain at the end of the Edo period, recommended "Shugi Washo" as a must-read for young men in his domain, and Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi probably studied it as well. Katsunobu Katsu praised Bazan in "Hikawa Seiban" as a "hero wearing Confucian clothes," and Shonan Yokoi said, "Kumazawa Ryosuke is the only one who has the body to do things. It seems that Bazan provided a great deal of inspiration to those who were seeking a guideline for a prosperous society during the turbulent period at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
In modern Japan, too, many people have been fascinated by Bansan. For example, Shinpei Goto, who achieved various accomplishments, including the reconstruction of the imperial capital after the Great Kanto Earthquake, cited "Shugi Washo" as his favorite book. Even today, Hiroshi Amano, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014, has as his personal motto Kumazawa Bansan's "Let the sorrows still accumulate on top of this. The motto is "Let the sorrows pile up on top of the sorrows, and save your limited strength. The meaning of this motto is, "Come to me with all the difficulties and hardships you can. I will never be defeated by them.
Bazan was a man of high practical ability and many pioneering achievements, but he was regarded as dangerous by the Bakuhan regime and died an unfortunate guest at his death because of the pure and frank opinions he expressed without any discernment. However, his ideas have since been shared by many people and played a part in the creation of modern Japan.
The following statement is found in the Shugi Gaisho I do not seek the fame and fortune of this world. In a hundred years, the right and wrong will be clearly known. （After a hundred years, there will be no one to praise and no one to slander. (omission) I will not avoid the slander of the present time, nor will I seek praise. I am only trying to be truthful and unashamed of posterity. The reason I am not ashamed of posterity is because I believe that my heart is right with respect to the divine and that I will not do injustice."
Such a thinker says, "The forests are the book of the nation. I feel this is a powerful encouragement to those who are involved in forests. (Kotaro Nagasawa, Director, Platinum Initiative Network)
