Japan’s Forests: From Lumber Source to Beloved Resource

A demonstration of Kitayama sugi (Japanese red cedar; Cryptomeria japonica) branch trimming at the fortieth National Tree Tending Ceremony, held in October 2016. (© Jiji)

A deciduous tall tree of the buna family. Commonly found at relatively high elevations along the Japan Sea side of the country. Pale yellow flowers bloom in May. (© Anezaki Kazuma)

Matagi Shida Tadanori of Nishikawa, Yamagata Prefecture, in 1983. (© Anezaki Kazuma)

A hillside is left barren, only a small strip of trees left standing along a logging road. (© Anezaki Kazuma)

Workers gathering yakusugi logs at Kosugidani in the early postwar years. (Photo courtesy the Forest Agency’s Yakushima Forest Ecosystem Conservation Center)

A magnificent yakusugi specimen. (© Anezaki Kazuma)

An Asahi Mountain Range buna forest. (© Anezaki Kazuma)