125

Mountainous Area Management in Japanese National Parks:
Current Status and Challenges for the Future
Masashi NORIHISA and Wataru SUZUKI
Nature Conservation Bureau, Ministry of the Environment of Japan
Kasumigaseki 1-2-2, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8975, Japane-mail: masashi_norihisa@env.go.jp, wataru_suzuki@env.go.jp

Abstract
The Japanese National Park System has a history spanning more than seventy-five years since theenactment 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 mostmanagement issues of the parks are closely related to the special features of these areas as well. One ofthe 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 andother 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.
Key words: area designation system, Japan, national park, overuse, park management,
trail management

1. Japanese National Parks: Background
Japan is an island country which covers a great
range with vast territorial waters between 20° 25’ and45° 33’ N. The Japanese archipelago extends 3,000 km,
and includes climatic zone ranging from subtropical tosubarctic. As Japan is located at the meeting point of
three major tectonic plates, namely, the Eurasian Plate,the Pacific Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, it has
numerous mountainous regions formed by organic andvolcanic activities due to active tectonic movementsof these plates as they collide. The highest peak is
Mount Fuji (3,776 m a.s.l.; Fig. 1). Most of themountains with altitudes of greater than 2,500 m arelocated only in the central part of Honshu Island. The
distribution of mountains with altitudes of 2,000 m or
greater includes Hokkaido and the northern andcentral parts of Honshu. Mountains with altitudes of
1,500 m or more can be found in almost any region on
Global Environmental Research
10(1)/2006: 125-134
printed in Japan

Fig. 1 Mt. Fuji (provided by the Ministry of the Environment).
©2006 AIRIES126

Masashi NORIHISA and Wataru SUZUKI

the four major islands of the country.
Japan has 23 peaks with altitudes of 3,000 m or
more.1) Twenty-two of these have been designated partof national parks. The number of peaks with altitudesof 2,000 m or more but less than 3,000 m increases to233. One of the distinctive features of Japan’s mountainous regions is that there are numerous mountains
which resulted from volcanic activity. There are 67
currently active volcanoes and various other geological features formed by volcanic activity, such as dormant volcanoes, calderas and crater lakes. The active
volcanism plus abundant rainfall often result in thermal springs, so there are many hot spring resorts.
Those hot spring communities often play an importantrole as gateway communities or tourist bases for recreational users of national parks.
The conservation and sustainable use of the representative natural environment of each nation havebeen ensured through a most adequate national parksystem, which was introduced from ‘forerunnercountries’ such as the United States and European
countries, being modified to suit each country’s own
natural, social and historical background.
Active discussions of introducing a national parksystem to Japan began in the early 1900s, after the
first establishment of a national park in the UnitedStates at the end of the 19th century. In 1931, theNational Parks Law was enacted (Environment
Agency, 1981). This was the first legislation to introduce a ‘National Park System’ to Japan for protection of the scenic natural beauty of this country. The
purpose of this law was to protect scenic beauty andpromote tourist visitation to those scenic places, rather
than strictly to protect the natural environment.
On the basis of this law, twelve areas were designated national parks between 1934 and 1936 (Table 1).
them,
Akan,
Daisetsuzan,
TowadaAmong(-Hachimantai), Nikko, Fuji-Hakone(-Izu), Chubu
Sangaku, Yoshino-Kumano, Daisen(-Oki), Unzen(-Amakusa), Aso(-Kuju) and Kirishima(-Yaku) included supreme mountain landscapes within their park
boundaries, with Setonaikai being the only exception.2)
In later years there was a growing need for morecomprehensive park legislation to meet demands ofthe public and also to protect natural areas from thegreedy pressure of uncontrolled development. The
Natural Parks Law (hereinafter ‘the Parks Law’) was
enacted in 1957, replacing the original National Parks
Law of 1931. The new law gave legal status toquasi-national parks and prefectural natural parks as
well. Together with the existing national parks, thethree types of parks constitute the foundation of thecurrent Japanese Natural Park System. It should also

Table 1 List of national parks in Japan as of March 2006.

Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu
Shiretoko
Akan
Kushiro Shitsugen
Daisetsuzan
Sikotsu-Toya
Towada-Hachimantai
Rikuchu Kaigan
Bandai-Asahi
Nikko
Joshin’etsu Kogen
Chichibu-Tama-Kai
Ogasawara
Fuji-Hakone-Izu
Chubu Sangaku
HakusanMinami Alps
Ise-Shima
Yoshino-Kumano
San'in Kaigan

Date of
Designation
Sep. 20, 1974
June 1, 1964
Dec. 4, 1934
July 31, 1987
Dec. 4, 1934
May 16, 1949
Feb. 1, 1936
May 2, 1955
Sep. 5, 1950
Dec. 4, 1934
Sep. 7, 1949
July 10, 1950
Oct. 16, 1972
Feb. 1, 1936
Dec. 4, 1934
Nov. 12, 1962
June 1, 1964
Nov. 20, 1946
Feb. 1, 1936
July 15, 1963

Area
(ha）
24,166
38,63390,481
26,861
226,764
99,47385,551
12,212
186,404
140,021
189,062
126,259
6,099
121,714
174,323
47,70035,75255,544
59,793
8,784

Setonaikai

March 16, 1934

66,934

Daisen-Oki
Ashizuri-Uwakai
Saikai
Unzen-Amakusa
Aso-Kuju
Kirishima-Yaku
Iriomote

Feb. 1, 1936
Nov. 10, 1972
March 16, 1955
March 16, 1934
Dec. 4, 1934
March 16, 1934
May 15, 1972
Total

35,053
11,34524,64628,27972,67857,07813,5472,065,156

National Park

Prefecture
Hokkaido
Hokkaido
Hokkaido
Hokkaido
Hokkaido
Hokkaido
Aomori, Iwate and Akita
Iwate and Miyagi
Yamagata, Fukushima and Niigata
Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata
Gunma, Niigata and Nagano
Saitama, Tokyo, Yamanashi and Nagano
Tokyo
Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Shizuoka
Niigata, Toyama, Nagano and Gifu
Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui and Gifu
Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka
Mie
Mie, Nara and Wakayama
Kyoto, Hyogo and Tottori
Osaka, Hyogo, Wakayama, Okayama, Hiroshima,
Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Fukuoka
and Oita
Tottori, Shimane and Okayama
Ehime and Kochi
NagasakiNagasaki, Kumamoto and Kagoshima
Kumamoto and Oita
Miyazaki and Kagoshima
OkinawaMountainous Area Management in Japanese National Parks

be noted that Special Protection Zones were newly
introduced in the park zoning system to provide strict
protection of natural ecosystems in certain areas of theparks (Fig. 2). Although it enables park managers to
restrict any developmental activities within theSpecial Protection Zones, the total coverage of thezones accounts for only 13.3% of the total park area.3)
In 2002, the Parks Law was modified to include
conservation of biodiversity as a responsibility of thegovernment.4) It has remained, however, just a provision under consideration for implementation under thelaw. Thus the primary purpose of the law―protection
and use of natural scenic places―remains unchanged.
A national park system appropriate to Japan’s uniqueconditions will necessarily differ from those of theUnited States and Canada. As Japan is a small island
country with one of the highest population densities in
the world, it is next to impossible to set aside largepark areas specifically for the purpose of protection.
To feed the nation, the first priority of land use has
been farming and other primary industries. Most forest, especially those accessible from settlements, havebeen used for timber and firewood production. In fact,
the traditional, sustainable, yet intensive use of natural
resources formed the typical landscapes of Japan’scountryside. This is very similar to how the scenery of
the countryside of Great Britain was developed, andthe form of legislation is also similar. In Japan, as inGreat Britain, the government does not have to own
the land in order to establish national parks. The
Japanese government owns only half of the land
within its national parks, and moreover, most of thefederal land in Japan is owned by the Forestry Agency.

Terrestrial
Areas
Zoning plan
for regulation
MarineAreas

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Thus, most of the parkland in mountainous areas isowned by the Agency and is managed primarily fortimber production. It is interesting, however, to notethat the percentages of land occupied by nationalparks are similar between Japan and the United States.
The well-known American National Park System
accounts for only 3.5% of America’s total land area,
while Japan’s occupies 5.5% of the total land area
(Table 2). In other words, although the United States
has vast virgin territories, the government could noteven spare as much as 4% for national parks. The total
acreage of the American National Park System, however, is a little smaller than the total land area of Japan,
the size of the area in which almost half of the US
population resides. The actual total areas of the twopark systems are so different, and this might be an
inadequate comparison. We should also bear in mind
that Japanese national parks contain private lands andeven residential areas within the park boundaries.
As described above, Japan is a mountainous country, and therefore many of its National Parks havebeen established to preserve the scenic beauty ofmountain landscapes. As of March 2006, there weretwenty-eight national parks (Table 1), among whichnine―Kushiro Shitsugen, Rikuchu Kaigan, Ogasawara,
Ise-Shima, San’in Kaigan, Setonaikai, AshizuriUwakai, Saikai and Iriomote―were parks with no distinctive mountainous features of national significance.
This paper aims to outline the general characteristicsof the Japanese National Park System, to examine
major issues in mountainous areas within the nationalparks of Japan and discuss challenges for the future.

Special Areas

Special Protection
Zones

Ordinary Areas
Marine Park Zones
Ordinary Areas

Fig. 2 Structure of the zoning plan for national parks in Japan (prepared by the
Ministry of the Environment).

Table 2 Numbers of staff and areas of national parks in Japan and the United States.

National park
area (ha)Nation’s landarea (ha)% of total
land area

Number ofstaff*

ha/staffJapan

2,065,156

37,790,697

5.5

250

8,260.6

The U. S.

33,980,630

982,288,100

3.5

20,574

1,651.6

Country*: Japan: April 2006 (approx.); U.S.: number of ‘Full Time Equivalent’ employees of the Operation of the
National Park System budget (source: FY2005 NPS Green Book).

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Masashi NORIHISA and Wataru SUZUKI

2. Special Features of the Japanese National
Park System
There are two features to note in the Japanese
National Park System. The first one is that we adopted
an ‘area designation system’ for national parks, whichenables park managers to enforce regulations on certain activities within national parks designated by thegovernment (Ministry of the Environment), regardlessof the ownership of the parkland. The total area ofJapan’s national parks amounts to 2,065,156 ha, andconsists of land owned by the government (1,278,844
ha; 61.9%), local governments (253,257 ha; 12.3%),
and private owners (533,026 ha; 25.8%).5) Parkland
set aside exclusively for national parks and put under
the ownership of the Ministry of the Environment accounts for only 0.2% (4,695 ha) of the total area of thenational parks.6)
Due to the extremely limited ownership of the
Ministry over the parkland, it is difficult to implement
ideal park management strictly for nature protection,such as a complete ban on development activities.
Therefore, the Ministry, as park manager, has beenrequired to make various concessions, and allows certain activities to be pursued by landowners, other government agencies and local governments instead.7)
However, it is also true that this flexible park system,
which does not require the park management authorities to own the parkland, allows the Ministry to include large areas of public land under the jurisdictionof other agencies, such as National Forests, and privately owned lands in establishing a national park.
This has been a huge advantage for the Ministry withregard to inclusion of vast natural areas in the
National Park System of Japan, which, with one of thehighest population densities in the world, has a longand complex history of land use and land ownership.
The second feature of note is the purpose of designation of national parks, not aiming directly for conservation of ecosystems, but establishing them to preserve outstanding scenic beauty representative of ourcountry.8) National Parks are stipulated under theParks Law as ‘superior natural scenic places representing the nation and relatively large units of landscape designated by the Minister of the Environment.’9)
As explained above, the National Park System ofJapan was intended not for strict protection of ecosystems, but for conservation and sustainable use ofprominent natural scenic places. However, it is also
true that a relatively large proportion (5.5% of thetotal land area) of the land has been designated in a
relatively smooth and cooperative manner. Generally,
it is not difficult to gain support from local governments and other stakeholders who anticipate an increase in the number of tourists and a positive effecton local community development as a result of
national park designation.
These two features are closely related. It is difficult

to convince landowners and local communities toestablish parks, which have national significance interms of size and quality, if park designation aims only
for strict protection of ecosystems. The landowners
would not allow the Ministry to impose legal controls
over their own lands unless the implications of park
designation, including enhancement of the value ofthe beautiful landscape as a tourist destination, wereexplained. As a result, it is difficult for the park managers to take an absolute position of not allowing any
development and carrying out strict protection policies,
but the natural environment within park boundaries isgenerally maintained in good condition through sustainable use controlled and coordinated by the law.
Another interesting aspect of Japanese protectedareas is the important role of religion. These designated areas have survived and been preserved
throughout Japan’s long history of human inhabitation
not due to laws but mainly because of mountain worship, the traditional Japanese belief that mountains are
inhabited by gods, which has an especially strong
influence from Shinto religion. The citizens revere not
only high mountains but large and old trees, rocks,
rivers and almost every unusual occurrence or pristinenatural landscape. For example, the famous Mt. Fuji
has been one of the holiest destinations for pilgrims
for hundreds of years, and a shrine owns most of themountain. Only recently were mountains opened formodern climbing, especially for women climbers, who
had been prohibited to enter most of the holy mountainous areas for religious reasons. Sir Walther Weston,an English missionary, and his ‘sherpa,’ or mountainguide, Kamonji, were two of the pioneers of modern
mountaineering in Japan. After the devastation ofWorld War II, mountaineering was greeted by a demanding public, who were eagerly seeking for freeand exciting opportunities for recreation in natural
settings.

3. Japan’s National Park Management
Structure
Before explaining issues concerning national parks
located in mountainous areas, we would like to introduce the structure of national park management inJapan. National parks management, as a matter ofcourse, is primarily the responsibility of the government.10)
The Ministry of the Environment has seven regional affairs offices. Under the supervision of these,
there are regional offices for nature conservation andranger stations. The ranger stations take charge locallyof national parks management. There are around 250‘park rangers’ and other staff who are involved inparks management (including those who work forparks at the national headquarters) (Table 2 & Fig. 3),
so the average park area served per staff member is
8,261 ha (Table 2). This number is much larger thanthe corresponding one of the US National Park

Mountainous Area Management in Japanese National Parks

Service (1,652 ha/staff member in FY2003). In Japan,
however, the park management responsibilities of theministry staff are limited to drafting park plans, controlling certain developmental activities, constructing
facilities and carrying out other policy-related matters,
most of which are required under the Parks Law. The
landowners bear general management responsibilities
with regard to their own lands, with the local governments in charge of promoting tourism, conducting
tourism-related management, coordination and execution of the Parks Law on behalf of the Ministry in certain cases.
The wildlife management authority within thenational parks is not based on the Parks Law, but on
the Wildlife Protection Law, which is commonly executed by local governments. Various other activities
practiced within park boundaries are also under legal
control of other regulations which fall under the jurisdiction of related government agencies, prefectural
governments, and municipalities. For this reason,parkland is subject to various restrictions imposed in acomplicated manner.

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Furthermore, local NGOs, cooperating private entities and community associations are often actively
involved in park management. This is one of thecharacteristics of ‘area designated national parks,’ orthe British style of national park systems, which
designate park area regardless of the ownership of theland. The Ministry of the Environment of Japan intends to strengthen and expand its partnerships withthose groups and organizations.
Under these circumstances, the Ministry’s park
rangers are responsible for coordinating and resolving
various conflicts of interest with the designated park
areas. The rangers are trained to act not only as‘enforcers’ of the law, but also as ‘key coordinators,’
who can facilitate management of the park harmoniously with assistance not only from the administrative
bodies concerned, but also various stakeholders,
including those from the private sector.

4. Issues to be Resolved in Mountainous
Areas of Japan’s National Parks
The major issues of concern in Japan’s nationalparks in mountainous areas are examined in this section. These issues can be broadly divided into three
categories: issues regarding the use of parks, issues
related to land ownership, and other issues.
4.1 Issues regarding the use of parksFig. 3 Japanese park rangers (provided by the
Ministry of the Environment).

Overuse:It has long been well known that there are certain
sites and dates or seasons when overcrowding occurs
in most of Japan’s national parks (Figs. 4 & 5). The
Oze area of Nikko National Park is one of the mostpopular destinations in the summer holiday season, so
it might be a good example for explaining this issue.
The year that the Oze area recorded its peak annual
visitation, which was around 600,000 visitors (it iscurrently around 300,000), visitors had to line up andwait for their turn at public toilets for as long as twohours. Over-concentration of hikers has caused dete-

Fig. 4 Crowded visitors on a wooded trail in the Oze area, Nikko
Fig. 5 Crowded visitors viewing sunrise from the slopes of
National Park (provided by the Ministry of the Environment).
Mt. Fuji (provided by the Ministry of the Environment).

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Masashi NORIHISA and Wataru SUZUKI

rioration and erosion of trails and disturbances toalpine flora all over Japan. The Ministry has promoted
and encouraged the construction of toilets, trails, stairways, wooden paths and other park facilities in order
to cope with such overuse issues. There was much
criticism, however, of the constructed facilities’ scaleand design as being unsuitable for the natural environment and spoiling the scenic value.11) There have beenvery few successful attempts to estimate the carrying
capacity at each national park based on either
ecological or facilities-based allowances of the parksin Japan. In 1973, the Ministry (at that time, the Environment Agency) compiled a report on the scientificprocess of calculating carrying capacity for visitor
management in order to resolve the issue of overuse(Environment Agency, 1973). The report, however,
did not prove to be as helpful for actual improvementof the situation as hoped. This was partly becauseeven if capacities could be estimated successfully, it
was difficult to determine the actual upper limit of use
in a purely scientific or technical way, because all of
the stakeholders had to be consulted to find common
grounds and come to a consensus.

storage tanks. Most of the toilets in common use even
now are still pit toilets with no bottoms in their tanks.
Some of these toilets have caused water to becomecontaminated with bacteria. This management wasinsufficient for maintaining a desirable level of sanitation. These toilets are gradually being replaced with
the improved bio-toilets.
The pros and cons of installation of toilets inmountainous areas, however, where the natural environment is so fragile that it cannot tolerate humanwaste, have been debated between park managers andNGOs in various parks in mountainous areas of Japan.
The ‘carry-it-down-yourself’ campaign, on the other
hand, which asks mountain climbers to carry down
their excrement in special sealed bags, has not been
widely accepted yet.

Exotic species management (including unintentional introduction of weeds by hikers):
Invasion of lowland weeds in high mountains
causes disturbances to alpine flora. The seeds of lowland weeds often hitchhike on the soles of shoes andare spread along trails. In some cases, exotic wildlife
and plants are intentionally introduced for various
reasons.

Management of accidents and injuries:
The recent boom in mountain climbing has considerably increased the number of accidents and injuries (Fig. 6). Although the number of younger visitors
is decreasing, there are more visitors in their middle orolder ages. The number of incidents involving these
aged trekkers is also increasing.
Under such circumstances, the positive role of cell
phones in rescuing victims is drawing attention. The
construction of cell phone relay stations on mountainridges is also an issue. There is discussion as towhether the park managers bear responsibility for
hampering communication in emergencies if they
restrict installment of cell phone towers for the reasonof possible impairment of scenic resources. Somelocal communities also oppose the construction of cell
phone towers because they do not want to introduce
urban conveniences and spoil the atmosphere at theheart of national parks.
The number of visitors from Korea and other Asian
countries has also been increasing recently. To ensure
the safety of these visitors, park managers urgently
need to install and improve signs and maps withmultilingual descriptions. Over the medium tolong-term, however, the trend in the number of climb-

Garbage and human waste disposal:
Garbage disposal management in mountainous
areas has been inadequate in the past. Climbers had
the habit of littering along mountain trails and disposing garbage in campsites. Park rangers allowed holes
to be dug for disposing of garbage. This customary
disposal issue by visitors has been resolved considerably through a ‘bring-your-trash-home’ campaign andother educational measures. Although almost no trash
can be seen along trails these days, unlawful dumpingof wastes by local residents in the foothills has become an urgent and difficult issue to be resolved.
The issue of human waste management has been
dealt with mainly through technical approaches, suchas construction of ‘bio-toilets,’ or biological processing toilets, and by using helicopters to carry down

Fig. 6 Rescue activity for injured visitors (provided by the
Ministry of the Environment).

Rehabilitation of vegetation:
Trampling on natural vegetation causes changes inthe vegetation and expansion of bare ground. This isaccelerated further by overuse of trails. When it rains,
the trails also become passages for running water,which aggravates erosion. Although projects to rehabilitate vegetation have been underway in many locations, complete recovery of natural vegetation requires
a long period of time.

Mountainous Area Management in Japanese National Parks131

ers is expected to decrease gradually. This will significantly affect the use and management of nationalparks in mountainous areas.

cline in human activities such as farming and timber
production have caused various significant changes innatural mountain landscapes and ecosystems in Japan.

4.2 Issues related to land ownership: Thechanging relationships with landowners

Habitat changes due to climate change:
Concerns related to climate change include extinctions of certain alpine plant species and enhanced
reproduction of invasive species. Climate change has
adverse effects on some alpine plant species, most ofwhich exist in isolated patches, and the resulting
changes in their habitat lead to the extinction of somespecies. The impact of grazing deer is increased when
the winter survival rate of the deer population improves as the result of decreased snow accumulation
or increased average temperatures due to climatechange.

Policy conflicts with the Forestry Agency:
Some conflicts have occurred between the Ministry of the Environment and the Forestry Agency, thelargest land-managing government body, regarding themanagement of national forests within national park
boundaries. The purpose of national forest management has changed from exclusive timber production toconservation of multiple functions of the forest over
the years. Accordingly, the historical conflict of ‘timber production vs. forest ecosystem conservation’ hascompletely changed in nature. Management policiesof the Ministry and the Forestry Agency for forests
within national parks have become more similar than
before. There are still some unresolved severe disagreements, however, and they result in inefficiencies
and inconsistencies in park management. In particular,
serious mismatches of policies over forest areas andtheir ecosystems result when an ‘Area for Controlled
Access,’ in which public use is still acceptable, hasbeen designated based on the Parks Law over a‘Forest Ecosystem Protection Area,’ which has been
designated by the Forestry Agency for suppressing
most of human activities.
Disputes over public use of private lands:
Because of disagreements over the application oftax reduction measures, some landowners refuse to let
the public use trails on their land. As the numbers ofvisitors has been increasing over the years, the private
landowners are feeling increasing dissatisfaction.
They are demanding further tax reductions and otherfavorable treatment, because land taxes are rising due
to a sharp rise in land prices compared to what they
cost when the national parks were established decadesago. Furthermore, local communities have been in
decline because of a decrease in the number of children, the aging society, depopulation of rural areas andconsolidation of smaller municipalities, the result of
which is a decreasing number of people bearing support of local communities. For these reasons, unfortunately, public support from local communities fornational parks is decreasing.
4.3 Other issues
Changes in secondary natural areas and thedecline of forestry (increase in abandoned community forests and forests managed for timber
production):
Vast secondary natural areas and afforested areas
have been maintained in rural areas all across Japanthrough a certain level of human disturbances. The de-

5. Toward Reinforcement of Management of
National Parks in Mountainous Areas ofJapan: Measures Completed and Ones
Currently Underway
5.1 Establishment of a designation system for‘Areas for Controlled Access’
When the Parks Law was revised in 2002, ‘Areas
for Controlled Access’ were introduced into the law
for the first time. This system is intended to exclude
recreational park use which exceeds certain limits assigned to an area designated by the Minister of theEnvironment within Special Protected Zones and Special Areas of national parks based on the Parks Law.
This system is expected to provide a legal framework
and be an effective tool for controlling the level ofrecreational use at certain locations in national parks
where the level of use is high and difficult to regulate
on a voluntary basis. As of the end of April 2006,
however, actual controlled areas have yet to be designated. There are several candidate areas, where active
discussions have been undertaken, but no consensus
has been reached for any of the areas because of conflicts of interests and differences in ideas and views
among the landowners, local residents and otherstakeholders.
5.2 Shifting from ‘Vegetation Rehabilitation’ to‘Nature Restoration’
The Ministry of the Environment has carried out
rehabilitation projects for vulnerable vegetation innational parks. Degradation of vegetation is caused
not only by the above-mentioned overuse, but also by
imbalances in the ecosystem which have been caused
indirectly by human activities. For example, eventhough the issue of over-grazing by wild deer iscaused directly by a drastic increase in the deer population, other factors include the expansion of afforested areas, with abundant seedlings, climate change,
and the aging and decline of the hunting population,
which have an impact through changes in the balancein the ecosystem. In this context, the Ministry has

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Masashi NORIHISA and Wataru SUZUKI

introduced a more comprehensive approach to restoring natural ecosystems. Plans for nature restoration
projects are drawn and decided on by restoration committees, which are formed by local governments, related ministries and agencies, and other stakeholders.
Then the projects are conducted according to the‘Ecosystem Approach,’ which was adopted at the fifth
meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP5) of
the Convention on Biological Diversity. To promoterestoration, the Japanese Diet enacted the Law for the
Promotion of Nature Restoration in 2002. Since theneighteen committees have been established based on
the law.
5.3 ‘Green workers’ program (employment oflocal residents for trail and exotic species
management; Fig. 7)
To improve the level of management at nationalparks, the Ministry is employing local residents as‘Green Workers’ for trail and exotic species management and other management activities. Although initially the primary purpose of the program was to provide employment opportunities to the local communi-ties, this program has been playing an important rolein improving the level of park management significantly by making the best use of local talents andknowledge. The approved budget for FY2006 is
approximately 300 million yen.
5.4 ‘Active Rangers’ program (strengthening
patrolling and monitoring functions; Fig. 8)
As the number of Ministry staff is very limited,
they by themselves cannot easily manage visitors.
Furthermore, the staff is also occupied with coordination with various organizations and individuals, attending meetings, doing paperwork for issuance ofpermission and carrying out other duties. To reinforce
the patrolling and monitoring activities of the staff inorder to ensure appropriate use of national parks, theMinistry has introduced the ‘Active Rangers’ program.
Through the program, the Ministry employs temporary staff members who are mainly in charge of visitor
contacts, patrolling and monitoring park resources. In
FY2005, a budget of around 200 million yen was allocated to the program, employing and stationing sixty
Active Rangers at 47 locations in national parks
across Japan.
5.5 ‘Mountain toilets’ (Fig. 9) and related subsidiary programs for installation of facilities(encouraging provision of private facilities)
The Ministry provides subsidies to local governments, private bodies and individuals for replacement
or renovation of existing toilets with ones friendlier tothe mountain ecosystem. The budget for this programin FY2006 is approximately 150 million yen, which
will cover half the total costs of installing six toilets.
In FY2006, replacement of the criticized ‘bottomlesspit’ toilets on Mount Fuji will be completed. Somelocal governments further encourage these replacements by providing addition subsidies.

Fig. 7 Green workers examining trails before the trekking
season begins in Chubu Sangaku National Park
(provided by the Ministry of the Environment).

Fig. 8 Interpretive programs provided by Active Rangers(provided by the Ministry of the Environment).

Fig. 9 ‘Mountain toilet’ installed by the Ministry of theEnvironment in the Karasawa area, Chubu-Sangaku
National Park (provided by the Ministry of theEnvironment).

Mountainous Area Management in Japanese National Parks

5.6 Mountain trail construction program
As the result of the ‘Sanmi-Ittai Reforms’ (or‘Three Bodies as One’ Reforms), responsibility forconstruction of trails in national parks was transferredfrom local governments to the Ministry. These reforms
transferred certain authorities from the national government to local governments, but slashed major
financial support to local governments. The Ministry
intends to introduce methods of trail construction andmaintenance which are better suited to vulnerable
mountain ecosystems.

6. Conclusions: Challenges for the Future
6.1 Alternative park planning system
The Japanese National Park System has employedthe ‘area designation system,’ through which the government can designate park boundaries and impose
public regulations on within the boundaries of parklands regardless of land ownership and related rights.
Therefore it is necessary for it to coordinate with landowners and local governments in various ways, because the park managers in most cases are not the land
managers or local administrators. Currently, an alternative park planning system is under consideration
which would require more active participation of amuch wider range of stakeholders. Heretofore, park
plans and park management plans have been determined through consultation with local governments
acting as representatives of local communities. However, there is a growing need for more active involvement of various stakeholders with park boundaries.
This will be one of the major topics of discussion for
the next revision of the Parks Law.
6.2 Establishment of a scientific monitoring system and consistent park management basedon scientific data
Objective evaluation and documentation of natural
resources which exist within national parks are two of
the most challenging matters, but are highly desirable
to park managers. So far, the scientific data available
has been inadequate, so decisions on park plans andmanagement plans have often been greatly affected by
local interests and intentions of the landowners andprivate sector. Scientific data would improve and support consistent park management, although designation under the ‘area designated park system’ mayinevitably be for protection of natural scenery andrecreational use to some extent. In the meantime,
Japan’s national parks have also been seen recently as
refuges for our country’s biodiversity. It will therefore
be necessary to reconsider the current park planning
processes and propose new decision making procedures which are open to a wider range of local stakeholders after assessing the park plans based not only
on the scenic value but also on the existing components of biological diversity based on scientific monitoring. The Ministry is considering establishing a133scientific monitoring and inventory program at eachnational park, but these have not taken a concrete
shape yet. The key to successful introduction of such a
program would be determining how to establish a reasonable and effective monitoring program that would
cover all of the national parks.
6.3 Partnerships and cooperation with related
government agencies
The National Parks Law has been administrated
under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ministry of theEnvironment. As the administrative policies of therelated government agencies are shifting in the same
direction as the Ministry’s, namely, protection of scenic beauty and conservation of biological diversity, therelated programs and efforts of those agencies withinpark areas should be incorporated into part of the park
management. Cooperation with the Forestry Agency isespecially critical in this mountainous country withmore than 70% forest cover. This agency owns some
60% of the total national parks area, and is now actively involved in ecosystem management, including
expansion of Forest Ecosystem Protection Areas
within the national forests. Harmonious cooperation
between national park and national forest management
has been an issue pending resolution for a long time,
especially with regard to the mountainous areas ofJapan. The Ministry considers establishment of a firmcooperative relationship with the Forestry Agency andother related agencies indispensable for consistent
management of mountainous areas in Japan’s nationalparks.
Notes
1) Altitudes of major mountains in Japan (source: Website of
the Geological Survey Institute at http://www.gsi.go.jp/
KOKUJYOHO/MOUNTAIN/mountain.html).
2) The names shown in parentheses are those added at laterstages.
3) As of 31 March 2005 (Provided by the Ministry of theEnvironment).
4) According to Clause 2, Article 3 of the Natural Parks Law,
the national government and local governments are to takemeasures to protect the scenery of natural parks, while
ensuring the diversity of their ecosystems and otherbiological diversity in the natural parks. In the light of theimportance of the protection of flora and fauna that inhabit
natural parks, this is essential for the protection of thescenic beauty of these parks.
5) As of 31 March 2005 (provided by the Ministry of theEnvironment). Marine areas are excluded from the acreages.
The total area does not match the sum of the areas due toareas of unknown ownership.
6) As of March 31, 2005 (provided by the Ministry of theEnvironment).
7) The provision is found in Article 4 of the Natural Parks
Law, which reads “At the execution of the Law, ・・・・
ownerships, mining rights, and other property rights should
be given consideration, and attention should be paid to thecoordination with national land development, and otherpublic interests.”

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Masashi NORIHISA and Wataru SUZUKI

8) The provision is included in Article 1 of the Natural Parks
Law, which reads “The purpose of the law is to protect andpromote the use of superior natural scenic places, to contribute to the presentation of good health, recreation andphysical exercise of the people.”9) According to the Selection Guideline of Natural Parks(finalized in 1952), a national park has to have an area of
30,000 ha or more (if a park is to be established along
coastlines, the area should be 10,000 ha or more), as acriterion.
10) According to the National Parks Law, the government bears
responsibility for park planning, regulation of activities,
facilities development, and other forms of management of
national parks stipulated by the Natural Parks Law.
However, certain prefectures carry out certain parts of park
management administration on behalf of the Ministry, insuch areas where the direct management system of thegovernment has not yet been fully established orcompleted.
11) Concrete Trails constructed by the Ministry were severely

criticized by domestic NGOs because the trails destroyed
the natural environment of the Murodo area of Chubu
Sangaku National Park. The construction of the trails wascompleted in a comprehensive development project carriedout from 1996 to 2000. Although this area is located in a
sub-alpine zone, even general tourists can access it very
easily by a direct public transportation system. The trails
were constructed not only to meet the needs of hikers but
also of general tourists. This was one of the major reasons
the level of the facilities had exceeded the adequate level
for trekking use in alpine and sub-alpine zones.

References
Environment Agency (1973) A study on carrying capacity innatural parks. Nature Protection Bureau, Environment
Agency, Tokyo.
Environment Agency (1981) The history of the nature conservation administration in Japan. Nature Protection Bureau,
Environment Agency, Tokyo.
(Received 8 May 2006, Accepted 28 June 2006)