Current Development of the Forest Use as Adventure Parks in Japan:

Focusing on Forest Adventure

Abstract

This paper focuses on Forest Adventure as a new type of forest use, and presents possibilities and challenges for the effective use of forests by analyzing its management style and development process in Japan. Forest Adventure is a business style of adventure park, where visitors with safety equipment can enjoy thrills and views by walking and crossing wire ropes, boards, and ladders at a certain height between standing trees in the forest. It has expanded since the 2000s, and there are currently 31 individual parks in Japan. The required area for the attractions is about 1 ha, and the activity can be deployed if there are standing trees that can support visitors’ weight and movement. Moreover, the profitability of each park is relatively high with tens of thousands of visitors per year. Under the general control of Forest Adventure Co. Ltd., the management of the individual parks is roughly divided into direct management and franchises, and it involves various types of landowners, local governments, and other private companies. The parks are located in public forests owned by local governments and communities, as well as in private forests. There are parks for which landowners become the management entities and other parks that other entities manage by arranging business contracts or leaseholds from landowners, reflecting diverse situations of local societies and forest ownership. On the other hand, in the absence of institutional bases for outdoor security management, Forest Adventure needs to bear the cost of safety responsibility, such as by introducing strict European management standards and building a uniform system of component procurement and maintenance of the attractions.