Data archive of research reports from the government-owned natural forest at the beginning of the Showa era

: scanning document and translation to current Japanese for research report of forest vegetation at Ogasawara Islands

Abstract

The original document of forest survey in the Ogasawara Islands (the Bonin and Volcano Islands) was digitized as a part of data archive of the research reports from government-owned natural forests in the early Showa era. We scanned images of the original document from the forest vegetation survey report written in classical Japanese and translated it to current Japanese. Moreover, we demonstrated plants with their current names corresponding to their names at that time. This document summarizes the field surveys conducted in 1935 in the national forests at the Ogasawara Islands. In this document, the composition and structure of various forest communities that covered the entire islands at that time, and the distribution of principal component plant species were described. Moreover, vegetational continuum in the islands was discussed. It provides useful information about the forest restoration projects in the Ogasawara Islands; it is a valuable academic asset that demonstrates forest officers’ insights into nature and research capabilities of forest vegetation.