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CultureCulture

The deep historical connection with forests has matured the Japanese spiritual and traditional culture.

12.24Wed 2025

Reclaiming the Sensation of Wood Touching the Body—Benefits in Japanese Lifestyle Culture and Circulation in Modern Society

Since ancient times, Japan has built its lifestyle and culture in close connection with wood, within an environment where forests cover approximately 70% of its land. Japan [...]

12.19Fri 2025

What Happens When Forests Are Left Untouched... The Perspective of "Potential Natural Vegetation" Reading Akira Miyawaki's "Plants and Humans: The Balance of the Biosphere" (Part 1)

After reading the previous work, "The Path of the Cedar" (by Tomitaro Toyama), I recalled that while the cedar (Cedrus japonica, family Cupressaceae) is unique to Japan, it is not considered part of the potential natural vegetation [...]

12.11Thu 2025

The Value of Wood Education in Capturing "Ma"──Resilience Inspired by Forests and Shinto

Forests possess the power to revive time and again, even after being destroyed. Fallen trees invite light, moss covers the soil, and tiny sprouts begin to emerge [...]

12.4Thu 2025

Bringing "Margao," a Resource Sleeping in the Satoyama, to the Table as a Domestic Spice Oisix and the Japan Institute of Forestry: A Challenge Connecting Food and Forests

Oisix Ra Daichi, operator of the food subscription service "Oisix," is researching edible plants lying dormant in Japan's satoyama landscapes [...]

12.4Thu 2025

The Sustainability of Aromatic Plants Supported by the World's Forests — The Perspective of Dominique Roque, a Fragrance Sourcer Whose Father Was a Forester

Let us take a look at Dominique Rake's work and character. For 30 years, he has traveled the globe in search of aromatic plants as a fragrance procurer [...]

12.2Tue 2025

"Forest Time" Questions Modern Society: Beyond Braudel's Historical Time Structure

Fernand Braudel and Geographical Time Fernand Braudel, the leading figure of the Annales School and a French historian, in his monumental work The Mediterranean [...]

11.28Fri 2025

The Future of Forest Management Revealed by the Japanese Cedar That Survived Across the Japanese Archipelago Reading Tomitaro Toyama's "The Path of the Cedar: Supporting the Lives of the Japanese People" (Part 2)

※Previous column here: "Easy to Split" Cedar Built Japan: Reading Tomitaro Toyama's The Path of Cedar - Supporting the Lives of the Japanese People ( […]

11.20Thu 2025

The warmth of wood that has accompanied eating: The power of food-related utensils to appeal to the senses

In the past, Japanese dining tables were surrounded by wood. Nowadays, tables are also made of glass, plastic, and other material variations [...].

11.19Wed 2025

Forest Circular Economy Talk Live Vol.1
How to Revive Local Forests: Learning from the Right Tree in the Right Place, Born of the French Forestry Industry
Friday, December 12, 2025 20:00-21:30|Online

The "Forest Circular Economy Talk Live" program will be held in conjunction with practitioners involved in the forest industry and regional economies, sharing their wisdom and practical examples of dealing with issues in the field.

11.14Fri 2025

Yurinoki, the "Mother of Japan's Street Trees," From Shinjuku Gyoen to the rest of the country What kind of tree was sought by the urban modernization of the Meiji era?

A spacious park with large trees to admire. Shinjuku Gyoen is one such park where you can take a pleasant stroll. Shinjuku Gyoen is located in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo [...].

11.12Wed 2025

Card game that illuminates the "in-between" - Why "wood education x art" is gaining popularity

Why do human rhythms become stagnant while nature keeps an uninterrupted rhythm? We now call it "species stagnation" [...].

11.6Thu 2025

The "easy-to-break" Japanese Cedar Built Japan: Tomitaro Toyama's "The Road Cedar Took: Supporting the Lives of Japanese People" (Part 1)

The mainstay of the "circular economy of forests" is, above all, the Japanese cedar. The area of planted forests in Japan is approximately 10 million hectares, of which 441 TP3T [...].

11.5Wed 2025

The Power of Trees Shined at the Paris Olympics Designing a Sustainable Cycle from Forest to City and City to Forest

The Paris Olympics held in 2024. The spectacular and creative staging of the opening ceremony and the success of the athletes who competed in close races are still [...].

11.4Tue 2025

The life course of a forestry technology bureaucrat who worked hard to modernize Japan's forestry industry intersects with the history of slowly growing Japanese cedar plantation forests.

In my edited book, "Forests and Time: A Social History of Forests in the Region," the idea of life course analysis is used as the theoretical framework that runs through the entire book [...].

10.30Thu 2025

Students Create Art Forest with Timber from Tochigi Prefecture Project Seeks New Use of Local Resources in Collaboration with Three Universities

In Sakura City, Tochigi Prefecture, Tokyo Denki University, Kyoritsu Women's University, and Hokkai Gakuen University have collaborated to create artworks utilizing wood sourced from Tochigi Prefecture [...]

10.21Tue 2025

The reason why people want to drink under a cherry tree Japanese people connect "food" with wishes and thoughts about trees

When you visit a shrine or temple, you may see a person placing his or her hands on a large tree that is said to be as long as a thousand years old. Trees are exposed to rain, dew, and water in the air [...].

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