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CultureCulture

A history of deep involvement with forests since ancient times has matured the spiritual and traditional culture of the Japanese people.

10.7Tue 2025

Why have non-native conifers taken root in Inokashira Park? How to enjoy the forest living in the city

Some of you may make it a routine to take a walk in a park for your health or to refresh your mind. The word "park" is used in a word [...].

9.29Mon 2025

Japanese Living with Trees: Memories of Forest Culture Engraved in Clothing, Food, and Housing

I believe that Japan is a country of "wood" and "water". However, when we look at the lifestyle of Japanese people today, it is the past tense of "it was a country [...].

9.24Wed 2025

France, a Forestry Country that Imitates Nature, Increases Production of Large-Diameter Hardwoods Read: Hitoshi Kadowaki, France, the Land of Hardwoods: From "Right Tree in the Right Place" to Natural Forestry (Part 1)

In the book "Forestry: German Forests and Japanese Forestry" by Yukikazu Murao, which I introduced in the previous issue, you will find that in the early 17th century, Germany was suffering from timber poverty (Germany: [...]) due to over-cutting.

9.13Sat 2025

Keio Electric Railway wins Grand Prix in Forest x ACT Challenge 2025 for its cyclical efforts to link cities and forests

Keio Electric Railway won the Grand Prix (Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries [...]) in the forest development category of the Forest x ACT Challenge 2025 organized by the Forestry Agency.

9.12Fri 2025

The "Japanese Spirit and Western Genius" I felt in the Meiji Shrine Forest: Reading Yukikazu Murao's "Forestry: German Forests and Japanese Forestry" (Part 2)

*Previously, three forest philosophies were formed under the influence of regional characteristics in Germany Read "Forestry: German Forests and Japanese Forestry" by Yukikazu Murao (in Japanese) [...

9.5Fri 2025

Learning from Totsukawa "Village in the Sky," an outdoor experience to protect the forest and nurture the community "Playground for Adults" delivered by a French entrepreneur

Japan has abundant forest resources, but forest management [...] such as the problem of neglected Satoyama forests (*1) and the decrease in the number of forestry workers (*2).

9.5Fri 2025

TENOHA TATESHINA Lab.", a new tourism base in Tateshina, where visitors can learn about forest cycles through "specimens, fragrance, and color" of highland plants.

TENOHA TATESH, a forest material laboratory, is a hands-on facility utilizing plants native to Tateshina, Nagano Prefecture, at an altitude of 1,300 meters [...].

8.28Thu 2025

Three Forest Ideas Formed by the Influence of Germany's Regional Characteristics: Reading Yukikazu Murao's "Forestry: German Forests and Japanese Forestry" (Part 2)

*Part 1 is hereThe challenges faced by the "Hozoku" forestry philosophy, which was born in 18th century Germany, a country where forests were overgrown, are described in Yukikazu Murao's "Forestry: German Forest [...]

8.21Thu 2025

Asunaro chopsticks are also used to bring good luck Japanese culture that connects the soul of wood

In my previous column, I wrote that Japanese chopsticks were originally "not a tool for carrying our food" and that "the material is made of wood [...].

8.19Tue 2025

The Challenges Faced by the "Hozoku" Philosophy of Forestry Born in 18th Century Germany, a Time of Rampant Deforestation Reading "Forestry: German Forests and Japanese Forestry" by Yukikazu Murao (Part 1)

I am interested in the forestry industry in Germany. There are three reasons for this. One is that Germany is a country that has realized cultivated forestry alongside Japan. And [...].

8.12Tue 2025

Why Japan Needs a "Circular Forest Economy" Now: Resource Self-Sufficiency, Lifelong Growth, and a Resident-Financed Platinum Society

As Chairman of the Platinum Initiative Network and former President of the University of Tokyo, I have long been thinking about the future of Japan. Now, the world [...].

7.28Mon 2025

Alarmed by Excessive Building Activities that Ruin Limited Forests Reading Kumazawa Bansan's "Shugi Wa Sho" and "Shugi Gaisho" (Part 2)

*Part 1 is here Kumazawa Bansan, the pioneer of Japanese forest history, was a thinker without discovery.

7.25Fri 2025

Forest Circular Economy, edited by Hiroshi Komiyama, is a vision for the year 2050: Rebuilding Japan as a resource-rich nation will start with its forests.

The national challenges facing Japan today - carbon neutrality by 2050, regional sustainability, and resource self-sufficiency. These [...]...

7.16Wed 2025

Kumazawa Bansan, Pioneer of Japanese Forest History, was a Thinker without Discovery: Reading "Shugi Wa Sho" and "Shugi Gaisho" (Part 1)

I have read three books in this column so far, trying to get an overview of the history of the Japanese people and forests. In the process, I became somewhat curious [...].

7.9Wed 2025

Why are festive chopsticks made of willow wood?

Chopsticks? What does that have to do with forests?" You may be thinking, "What does chopsticks have to do with forests?" but Japanese chopstick culture and food culture have a deep relationship with trees. [...].

7.4Fri 2025

Can Money Buy Carbon Neutrality? The Forest-Economy Paradox

Before we get into forestry, wood processing, and wood use, there is something to consider: the policy toward carbon neutrality in 2050 [...].

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