Various studies have examined the effectiveness of Nature Experience Activities. In this one, we examined the influence of Ikiru Chikara and Symbiotic Values with Nature on children participating in Nature Experience Activities in a forest environment. This research focused on the characteristics of participants and examined the effect of the program in terms of the impact of the original nature experiences and the mental and physical trauma of adverse experiences of natural disasters. The subjects analyzed were 213 participants in Fukushima Kids Program and their parents, all of whom were asked to provide feedback via questionnaires on aspects of Ikiru Chikara, Symbiotic Values with Nature, nature experiences and the experiences of parents during the disaster. After analyzing Symbiotic Values with Nature, the three factors emerging included an affinity with nature, relationship between nature and life and interest in and consideration of nature. The analysis of all participants showed that the program improved both Ikiru Chikara and Symbiotic Values with Nature. This improvement was clear following a comparison made with children with less experience of nature. What also emerged was how the occurrence or absence of a fearful experience caused by on earthquake affected on the level of physical ability.

In Japan, the origin of the forest planning system can be traced back to two events which made a major impact-namely, the 1939 amendment of the Forest Law and the formulation of the forest policy during the Allied occupation of Japan under the General Headquarters/Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP). My research involved the analysis of the present forest planning system as well as the discourse of policymakers involved in it. It can be concluded that the 1939 amendment to the Forest Law extended the scope of the forest management plan to private forests as well, and was the basis for the current forest planning system which includes technical mechanisms such as forest registers. At the same time, the evaluation of the 1939 amendment of the Forest Law is a point of contention among policymakers, especially with regards to the wartime regime. For this reason, the significance of the 1939 amendment of the Forest Law may have been underestimated after World War II. With regard to the policy under the Allied occupation, the “forestry program” as given in the GHQ/SCAP document provided an accidental opportunity for the formulation of a forest planning system. Revisiting the discourse of policymakers of that period, it can be inferred that as a result of political horse-trading with the occupation policy, the forest planning system formulated at that time laid the foundation of forest policy in Japan after the war.

Mass mortality of oak by Japanese oak wilt disease is caused by an ambrosia beetle vector, Platypus quercivorus. In northern Gunma Prefecture, a geographically isolated mass mortality occurred in Minakami in 2010 for the first time. We hypothesized three origins of the beetle population causing the isolated mass mortality: (1) a population recently migrated naturally or artificially from near or neighboring prefectures, which might exhibit a low genetic diversity due to founder effect; (2) a recently artificially migrated population from a distant area, which might have genetically different lineages and a low genetic diversity due to founder effect; and (3) an indigenous population, which exhibits a relatively high genetic diversity. We examined these hypotheses using variations of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and nuclear microsatellite (nSSR) for Gunma and six other neighboring or nearby prefecture populations. Genetic structures of rDNA and nSSR showed that the Gunma population belonged to a northeastern Japanese Sea of Japan-side lineage, as had neighboring prefecture populations, indicating that the Gunma population did not recently migrate from a distant area with different lineages through human activity. Genetic diversity of mtDNA and nSSR indicated that the Gunma population exhibited a moderate genetic diversity, similar to the other populations. Therefore, we concluded that the Gunma population might have originated from an indigenous population.

The study aimed to clarify the influence of the nuclear disaster on the wood supply and demand and the present situation of forestry and wood industry in Fukushima. Reconstructing the facilities damaged by tsunami and earthquake was partly completed, however, the aftermath of it remains yet. After the disaster, the wood demand rate greatly increased, nevertheless the amount of material production stagnated, so that the imported wood ratio from other prefectures exceeded. The timber price slightly differed from the country's trend, the increase rate was low, and price of roundwood and stumpage price and gross forestry output production decreased than before. In comparative analysis across the areas, the timber demand declined in Soso area in which Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was, and the supply and demand balance was also altered in other areas. The restriction of forestry management owing to the nuclear disaster and the wood price fall stalled the material production and changed the balance of wood production and distribution in Fukushima. Whereas the reconstruction has been progressing in midstream and downstream, the deterioration of management in upstream is getting worse. To reconstruct forestry, measures are needed to improve the upstream process with consideration of situation in Soso area.