Mountainous Area Management in Japanese National Parks: Current Status and Challenges for the Future

抄録

　The Japanese National Park System has a history spanning more than seventy-five years since the enactment of the National Parks Law in 1931. This original law was replaced by the Natural Parks Law (hereinafter ‘the Parks Law’) in 1957. Twenty-eight national parks have been established in Japan as of May 2006. Formed by active tectonic movements, the Japanese archipelago is dominated by mountainous geographical features. Accordingly, most of the national parks contain mountainous areas, and most management issues of the parks are closely related to the special features of these areas as well. One of the distinctive features of the Japanese National Park System is that the Parks Law adopted an ‘area designation system,’ which allows the government to establish national parks without having to procure the land within the park boundaries. This is important because of Japan’s relatively high population density and long history of private land ownership. Therefore the park managers are required to consult not only with park visitors, but also with landowners, local governments, related government agencies and other stakeholders about park management activities and policies. As a result, Japanese park management differs markedly from that of the United States, Canada and other countries whose governments own most of the parkland. The largest landowner of the Japanese national parks is the Forestry Agency. Overlaps with National Forests account for as much as 60% of the total national park area. Policy conflicts between the two agencies are a long-term problem to be resolved, especially for the mountainous areas, which are owned mostly by the Forestry Agency. Another urgent task will be the establishment of inventory and monitoring systems for each national park to make park management more consistent.