Cri t er io n f o r J a panese NIAHS reco g n ition

Striking landscape and Kumano Kodo
Hinoki forest facing theKumano Sea
The Owase‒Kihoku site stretches from Mie Prefectureʼsfamous, craggy Odai Mountain Range̶with an elevation of
1,000 to 1,400 meters̶and descends rapidly to the coast of
the Kumano Sea, in the Paciﬁc Ocean.
The distance of 10 to 15 kilometers between the mountains
and the coast comprises a very steep slope immaculately
covered with hinoki trees and creating a striking landscapefound in few other places in Japan.

H i n o ki fo re s t fa c i n g th e Kum a n o Sea

Connection with pilgrimage routeforming a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Stone-paved Magose P ass in the hino ki fo re s t

The forest landscape that unfolds along the Kumano Kodo
pilgrimage route is acclaimed as a cultural landscape thatevolved and developed over time through forestry and wood
production activities.
For some 390 years, generations of residents interacted withthe forest to form the sublime hinoki forest surrounding thestone-paved path of the Kumano Kodo, creating not only anaesthetically pleasing landscape but also a historically important local resource.

New uses for the Owase Hinoki wood
Owase Hin ok i Forest ry S y st em

G7 2016 Ise-Shima Summit

Born of S t eep Lan d form san d Heav y Rain fall

Wood production in the Owase‒Kihoku site focused primarily onarchitectural columns in the past. New needs are being cultivated,
however, considering the recent drop in new residential construction and Japanʼs aging population coupled with declining birth rate.
As part of these eﬀorts, the G7 2016 Ise-Shima Summit in Shima City,Mie, featured Owase Hinoki wood in the round table used in themeeting, and throughout the international media center. The woodgrown with meticulously controlled human intervention displayed abeautiful grain that won the praise of the foreign guests.

Japanese Nationally
Important AgriculturalHeritage Systems©2016 MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPANJapanese Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

I n qu i r i e s a b ou t forestry and wood
◆Owase Forestry Cooperative（Owase Forestry Policy Promotion Council Secretariat）

200 Binnoyama, Kihoku-cho, Kitamuro-gun, Mie 519-3408

TEL/+81-597-32-0275 FAX/+81-597-33-0028

I ssu e r: O w a se Fo re st ry Po l i c y Pro m o t i o n Co u n c i l◆Fishery, Ag r iculture , and Forestry
Section, Owase City Oﬃce

◆Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery
Section, Kihoku Town Oﬃce

10-43 Chuo-cho, Owase-shi, Mie 519-3696
TEL/+81-597-23-8224 FAX/+81-597-23-8303

769-1 Higashi Nagashima, Kihoku-cho, Kitamuro-gun, Mie 519-3292
TEL/+81-597-46-3116 FAX/+81-597-47-5905

Ow a s e C ity & Kih o k u To w n
M ie P r e f e c tu r eOwase Hinoki forestry systemowase hinoki

Cr ite r io n f o r J a pa ne s e N IA H S r e c o gnitio n

Forestry activities designed to maintain biodiversity
Sustainable forestry taking
account of biodiversity

The value of history and tradition
Owase City and Kihoku Town, in Japanʼs southern-central prefectureof Mie, lie on a steep slope to the Odai Mountain Range and are
unsuitable for rice farming. Instead, forestry techniques are welldeveloped, with artiﬁcial regeneration beginning around 1630.
Heavy average annual rainfall of over 3,800 millimeters andpredominantly infertile soil̶these natural features meant hinoki
cypress was a good ﬁt. Saplings were planted from 1850 onward,
with the present generation of trees accounting for 90% of the
man-made forest, a rarity even in Japan.
The Owase‒Kihoku site turns slow growth from poor soil into anadvantage by densely planting the saplings, thinning out the trees,
and repeating the process to produce high-quality hinoki. This
age-old model of forest management also takes account of biodiversity and the connection between the forest and the sea.
With the steep slope facing a ria coast and coverage extending to
the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route, forming a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site, the hinoki forest even creates a landscape unique tothe Owase‒Kihoku site.
The distinctive, traditional practices upheld by the Owase Hinoki
forestry system won recognition in March 2017 as a Japanese
Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage System (NIAHS).

Fixed net ﬁshing for Japanese amberjack

The Owase‒Kihoku site is the ﬁrst in Japan to receive Forest
Stewardship Council （FSC®） certiﬁcation. Owing to forest
management that controls the light reaching the forest ﬂoor,
for instance, a larger number of plant species are found in thisman-made forest than in a natural forest of broad-leaved
Responsible forest
management label
evergreens. The site is advanced in that it not only produces
high-quality timber but also promotes sustainable forestry taking account of
the environment and biodiversity.

Protecting the forest equals protecting the sea
Fish-breeding protection forest

Owase Hinoki used in oyster culture

Spawning bed for bigﬁn reef squid

Hands-on tree planting

The Owase‒Kihoku site extends to a coast with important ﬁshing grounds. This
coastal area is exempt from artiﬁcial regeneration and set aside as a protection
forest, currently under the designation “ﬁsh-breeding protection forest.” Bydrawing on experience to recognize the connection between the forest andthe sea, and protecting the ﬁshing grounds even during times of active tree
planting, foresters have contributed greatly to maintaining biodiversity and toconserving and sustaining the ﬁshery resources of the Owase‒Kihoku site.
As part of their biodiversity education activities, foresters also cooperate withelementary schools to set thinned wood on the sea ﬂoor as a spawning bed for
bigﬁn reef squid.

H inoki forest

Cri t er io n f o r J a panese NIAHS reco g n ition

Cr ite r io n f o r J a pa ne s e N IA H S r e c o gnitio nForestry system for hinoki strength and aesthetic appeal

Skills and knowledge for making the best use of hinoki
Techniques for enhancing thevalue of hinoki

History of Owase Hinoki forestry
The Owase‒Kihoku site comprises very little ﬂatland and only
about 1% arable land. Although it was never suitable foragriculture, the site was fortunately home to forests and wentby the name Kii-no-kuni or Ki-no-kuni, meaning “province ofthe trees.” The cycle of tree planting and tending began in themid 1600s, and forestry continued to grow thanks to advanced
shipping operations that facilitated the transport of timber tolarge cities like Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo (Tokyo).

The steep landforms and heavy rainfall of the Owase‒Kihoku site meantthat transporting the wood by road increased disaster risks as well as costs.
Cable logging techniques developed of necessity but turned out toprovide signiﬁcant advantages, not least in terms of proﬁtability. Because
the trees could be transported at full length, log lengths could be adjusted
according to market trends.

Artisanal skills forassessing log characteristics

Established system forproducing high-quality timber
T h in n in g

Trial and error since the start of full-scale artiﬁcial regeneration led
to the current model of planting 6,000 to 10,000 trees perhectare ̶more than double the density of general hinoki
forests̶ and making full use of pruning techniques to produce
ﬁne boxed heart timber for columns that are either clear of or have
only small, well-spaced knots. In recent years, management
extends to controlling the light reaching the forest ﬂoor. That is,thinning is increased to encourage the introduction and growth ofunderstory vegetation, thereby maintaining the forest soil whileconserving the wood production environment.

Dense growth rings of Owase Hinoki

Owase Hinoki wood is strong and beautiful, displaying dense growthrings and rich oil content. To make the best use of these characteristics, sawmillers have honed their skills for assessing the quality ofeach log and processing it to draw out the maximum value.
TransportLogging

Owase Hinoki columns

Sawmilling

Proven strength

Pru n i n g

P la n t in g

Owase Hinoki wood was used to provide 6,549 columns for constructing the Mie Prefectural Kumano Kodo Center. The bending Youngʼs
modulus was measured for each of these columns, and the results
provided scientiﬁc proof that hinoki produced at the Owase‒Kihoku
site is an excellent material in terms of strength and other properties.