2016 Volume 15 Issue 4 Pages 111-143
Since 1976 the Japanese cabinet office has conducted 10 opinion polls on forestry in which answers were collected through face-to-face interviews with 3,000 or 5,000 adults. Here changes in the Japanese public opinion on forestry in the 2000s were clarified via the results of long sequence labor-needed surveys. The percentage of people who had high expectation for the wood production service of forests altered from a drastic decline in the 1980s and 1990s to a moderate increase in the 2000s. On the other hand, the need for forest policy measures on the promotion of wood supply and use remained the same in the 2000s. In the 2000s, a contradictive relationship emerged between the expectation for the wood production service of forests and the need for forest policy measures to support the mountain villagers because the need was higher among urban people than among rural people. More than 80% of people thought that the use of domestic woods helps forest improvement, but only approximately 30% people evaluated the use of domestic woods when deciding on the kind of houses to live. In the 2000s, approximately 15% people considered whether the woods came from adequately managed forests. The trend in which people increasingly prioritize economic efficiency in the decision of the operation of forest improvement activities also emerged in the 2000s.
