Project Reach: Japan

100 high school students met with traditional forestry experts throughout Japan this past year, recording and writing about their lives.

This on-going project of the Folk Narrative Recording Group is one example of the way that it has been sponsoring the recording of the life experiences of the elderly, giving future reporters first hand contact with older generations.

The 8th Annual Forest Listening and Writing Forum will present the results of this past year’s interviews on 28 March at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo.

Students will talk about their experiences and present videos and photos they took while recording narratives and working with these masters of the forest.

A walk with a forest master

For example, some students will talk about how they learned to find wild potatoes and mushrooms in the woods, while others will describe the way they learned to build a forest shelter from branches and wild grass.

There will also be a visual display of tools used by the forest experts. The exhibits and forum contents promise to be a lively and colorful display of the high school students’ direct and personal experience of forest life.

Japan is said to be the "land of woods." Two-thirds of national land is covered with trees. People living in these lush mountain woods have developed a way of life that enables them to gain the most from their circumstances.

Japanese forests provide wood for traditional houses, materials for civil engineering, water, fuel wood, charcoal, foods such as berries, potatoes, and mushrooms, fuel wood and charcoal, and plant fibers used in textiles.

The wisdom of Japanese tradition and culture can also be said to have been supported by the vitality of Japan's forests. In Japan, those who have a long relationship with the forest are known as "forest masters," and possess a plethora of techniques and traditional wisdom, such as knowledge about wild herbs and greens, wood craft, thatching and bamboo basket making. These are the kind of men and women with whom the 100 high school students had the opportunity to learn. At the March 28th forum, they will then pass on this narrative.