Forests as cultural assets and the cultural assets created from them
Round objects become square. Wood is formed from logs, which change shape into square columns and beam girders. As it is cut away from its original volume, the remaining [...].
*Previous column: "Civilization Theory of Forests" raised during the high-growth period Read "The Culture of Terrestrial Forests: The Depths of Japanese Culture" edited by Shumpei Ueyama ([...])
The potential natural vegetation of the Japanese archipelago is broad-leaved. The potential natural vegetation is divided into two major areas in Japan, with the mountains of the Chubu region and the Tohoku region being the summer [...].
Disposable chopsticks were born in Japan. Therefore, among countries where chopsticks are mainly used for eating, the use of disposable chopsticks is one of the features of Japanese [...].
*Previous columns are here [From a Shinto priest's perspective] As a manner of forest circulation, we transcend the division of responsibility between the past and the future in the "middle and present" time frame.
In order to sustainably utilize Japan's forest resources, it is essential to make decisions and implement them on the ground, turning harvesting, utilization, and regeneration into an integrated [...].
In the 1990s and early 2000s, when global environmental issues were in the spotlight, problems such as deforestation and carbon dioxide generation were "circumscribed [...].
The deepest forest in central Tokyo is probably the forest in the Nature Education Park. The Nature Education Park is located on the Yamanote [...].
*Previous column is here What happens if we leave the forest unattended... "Potential Natural Vegetation" Perspective Akira Miyawaki, "Plants and Humans: The Rose of Biological Society [...]" (in Japanese)
The moment we call forests "resources," the cycle begins to break down. But in the eyes of Shintoism, [...]...
In December 2025, I translated a volume of nature writing. The trout tell the story of the river: riparian creatures, forests, and humanity [...].
It's a little harder to get to now, but I visited Sakhalin in the summer of 2015, before Russia launched an unreasonable war against Ukraine [...].
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]