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Local RevitalizationLocal Revitalization

Japanese cities, towns, and villages promoting regional development through forestry and timber industry

11.15Sat 2025

Wooden Town: Shin-Kiba's Wood Waste Transformed into Station Information Hub JR East Startup's Circular Design Challenge

JR East Startup, Spacewasp, and Hakuten are collaborating on a project themed "Circular Design for Regional Resources" around Tokyo's Shin-Kiba Station [...]

11.14Fri 2025

Reconstructing "Yusan Culture" in Unused Plantations: Tokushima-Based Culture Brand "yusan" Launches

Using disused plantation forests in Mugi Town, Tokushima Prefecture as a field, we reconstruct the relationship between people, culture, and nature starting from sensibility and creativity [...]

11.8Sat 2025

Nobeoka City Demonstrates Asahi Kasei's DX System, Reducing Complex Forest-Derived J-Credit Application Workload by 90%

Asahi Kasei has recently developed a system to streamline the application process for forest-derived J-Credits. A demonstration test is underway in Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Prefecture [...]

11.8Sat 2025

Benches for Sitting in the Forest: Utilizing Locally Dried Cypress Tops Circular Project Launches from Okazaki

Wood requires a long drying period from felling to shipment, during which the top board spends its “sleeping time.” This time is utilized locally [...]

10.24Fri 2025

Cosmetics Using Noto Hiba to Support Reforestation of Ishikawa's Prefectural Tree Ate NAIA Donates Part of Sales to Prefectural Forest Association Fund

NAIA, which develops the Nature Science cosmetics brand, is helping to build a cycle of sustainable use of Noto Hiba resources [...].

10.16Thu 2025

Warm Ie," a cabin that coexists with the forest in Kitakaruizawa, receives Good Design Best 100 Award for resource-recycling architecture that utilizes local hardwoods.

Kitamoku, Ryu Mitarai Architects, and Mt. Toi collaborated to build "Dankyo" in Kitakaruizawa, Gunma Prefecture.

10.1Wed 2025

Sustainable Socks Developed with Upcycled Cotton and "Wooden Yarn" Made from Yoshino Cedars and Japanese Cypresses Sock Manufacturer in Nara Tackles Regional Recycling

Soki, a sock manufacturer in Nara Prefecture, has developed "wooden threads" made from Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress produced in Yoshino, Nara Prefecture, and "up [...]" recycled from scraps of wood from the manufacturing process.

10.1Wed 2025

Reforestation through "Shower Climbing" Experience Playing in Forests and Rivers: Tackling Recycling-Oriented Sustainable Tourism in Yurai, Hiroshima

The Yurai Tourism and Community Development Corporation, a non-profit organization that promotes tourism and community development utilizing local resources in the town of Yurai, Saeki Ward, Hiroshima City, has been climbing a stream [...].

9.17Wed 2025

Shinshu larch is going from a landscape resource to a forestry resource.

When one hears the words "Karuizawa" or "Hakuba," many people think of resort destinations. Fresh air, majestic mountains, Western-style architecture and villa culture. It [...].

9.3Wed 2025

Noto's satoyama and satoumi, supported by the ate forestry industry, also takes on the challenge of restoration utilizing forestry heritage and World Agricultural Heritage sites.

The Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture experienced unprecedented combined disasters in the history of the prefecture: the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year's Day, 2024, and the Okunoto torrential rains in September. The disaster area [...].

8.28Thu 2025

Nagano-based Watahan Building Materials acquires 1,500 hectares of forestland to create a "logging, using, planting, and growing" recycling model

Watahan Kenzai Corporation, a general wood construction materials manufacturer, acquired approximately 1,500 hectares of forestland in Sendai, Iida City, Nagano Prefecture, from the Noike Airin Agricultural Cooperative Association in August [...].

8.20Wed 2025

People and Places to Survive the Summer Heat in Mountain Villages in Hokuriku: A Relationship of Sharing the Same Air with Those to Whom You Entrust Your Forests

As I write this on August 12, it is raining again in Hokuriku. The previous week, heavy rainfall had flooded the roads in Takaoka City, Toyama Prefecture, and caused self [...].

8.13Wed 2025

Utilization of oak-deficient trees as "Sastena benches" Establishment of a new recycling system for forest resources in the tourist resort of Hakuba, Japan

Hakuba Iwatake Mountain Resort, a member of the Japan Ski Resort Development Group, in cooperation with Yuasa Lumber and the North Alps Forestry Association, has announced a new ski resort in Nagano Prefecture [...].

8.13Wed 2025

Machida City and Tamagawa Gakuen sign business collaboration agreement to use trees in public spaces as educational materials and for educational programs

Machida City, Tokyo, and Tamagawa Gakuen signed a new business collaboration agreement on August 12 to utilize and recycle trees in the city as resources [...]

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 [...].

8.6Wed 2025

Energy company Sinanen supports Aoba Gumi's natural capital co-creation program to create a forest to nurture natural capital in Ashikaga.

Sinanen, an energy solutions company, has partnered with Aoba-gumi, a company that specializes in afforestation and forestry, to develop a forest in Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture, which is managed by Aoba-gumi [...].

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