Silviase/jgov_v1.4_full_ann huggingface dataset:
### 1. Circular Utilization of Forest Resources and Wood Products Industry

### 1.1 Wood Products Industry Linking Forest Resources to Wood Use

In Japan, forests that were planted after World War II have begun to reach maturity and are ready for harvest. For circular utilization of such forest resources (Fig.1-1), the role of wood products industry is indispensable, which processes roundwood into wood products and distributes them, as well as the roles of forestry that produces roundwood and consumers of wood products.

Fig. I-1: Circular utilization of forests resources (image)

The wood products industry plays the following roles:

(i) To supply processed wood products in response to consumers' needs, and to promote wood use in the society, in connection to the downstream sector;

(ii) To support forestry through purchasing roundwood, in connection to the upstream sector (forestry sectors);

(iii) To contribute to creating job opportunities and boosting the economy of the region, in connection to local communities

#### 1.2. Outline of Wood Products Industry in Japan

The wood processing industry produces various wood products, including lumber, laminated lumber, plywood and wood chips (Fig.1-2).

The wood distribution industry engaging in the sale of roundwood and wood products includes wood markets (log auction market and wood products market) and wood wholesalers (Fig.1-3).

These industries play a role to connect upstream sector with downstream sectors (Fig.1-4).
Circumstances, such as wood supply and demand of the moment, strongly influence the state of wood processing and distribution industries.

Lumber	Laminated lumber	Plywood	Wood chip
Appearance
Production method	Saw roundwood into lumber using saw mills	Glue laminar (board sawn into certain sizes sorted and ranked depending on the strength) with parallel fiber orientation	Bond layers of veneers peeled from roundwood (with fiber orientation of each veneer orthogonally-crossed; with parallel fiber orientation in the case of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL))	• Chip produced from mainly roundwood and mill residue wood with a chipper
• Shred mainly construction refuse wood with a shredder or hammer
Major usage	Housing materials, laminar for laminated lumber, furniture and fixtures materials, etc.	Housing materials, etc.	Housing materials, concrete formworks, furniture and fixtures materials, packing materials for transportation, etc.	Raw materials for paper, wooden board and fuel, etc.
Share of domestic roundwood used in domestic wood products industry(2013)	72%	23%	72%	Almost 100%
Share of domestic production (2013)	59%	65%	40%	20%
Self-sufficiency rate (2013)	42%	15%	29%	20%

Fig. I-2: Major wood products

Fig. I-3: Pictures of markets (Up: Log auction market; Down: Wood products market)

Fig. I-4: Overview of wood processing and distribution
### 2. Changes in Wood Demand/Supply and Responses by Wood Products Industry

#### 2.1. Demand Expansion Period (After World War II to Around 1973)

During the recovery period after World War II and the subsequent rapid economic growth period, wood demand expanded due to increases in new housing starts and paper and paperboard production (Fig.I-5). In response to the demand, domestic wood supply increased in the beginning. However, its upward trend peaked out in 1967 due to the constraint of forest resources that were available at that time.

Accordingly, roundwood importation was liberalized. As a result, the volume of imported roundwood increased by eight times from 1960 to 1973. The volume of wood import exceeded that of domestic wood supply since 1969.

Fig. I-5: Wood demand, number of new housing starts, and production of paper and paperboard

Under such circumstances, small-sized lumber mills increased mainly in mountainous forestry areas, and large mills that processed imported roundwood were constructed in the coastal areas since 1955.

The plywood industry, that imported south-sea roundwood as raw material, achieved rapid growth through export in the beginning and domestic sales thereafter. The wood chip industry expanded its production by mainly consuming mill residue wood and hardwood.

Auction markets for transaction of domestic roundwood and lumber had developed as they were suitable for small-sized entities while trading companies played leading roles in transaction of imported wood.

#### 2.2. Stagnant Demand Period (From Around 1973 to Around 1996)

After peaking out in 1973, wood demand fluctuated and then stayed at around 100 million m $ ^{3} $ . Wood demand for lumber and plywood began to decline due to a decrease in the number of new housing starts. On the other hand, wood demand for chip and pulp production increased due to an increase of paper and paperboard production and reached a record high in 1995.

Continued decline of wood prices and increase of forest management costs, made profitability of forestry to be deteriorated and made log harvesting activities stagnant. In this situation, domestic wood supply declined until 2002.
On the other hand, the volume of imported wood increased and reached a record high in 1996. The volume of imported wood products continued to increase and exceeded that of imported roundwood in 1987 while the volume of imported roundwood peaked out in 1973 (Fig.1-6).

Fig. I-6: Changes in the composition of wood demand

During this period, the number of mills sawing imported roundwood decreased and some mills started to regroup.

Plywood production decreased sharply due to a decline in the import of south-sea roundwood, especially after the latter half of the 1980s, and the use of softwood, such as north-sea roundwood, started to expand.

Use of pre-cut lumber expanded in the construction sites of wooden houses. With increasing number of pre-cut mills, use of kiln-dried lumber and laminated lumber increased.

Domestic wood chip production decreased since 1991 due to an increase in import of wood chips.

Although transaction volume in the log auction market increased, that in the wood products market continued to decrease.

#### 2.3. Demand Decline Period (Around 1996 –)

Wood demand was on a declining trend and dropped below 70 million m $ ^{3} $ in 2009 for the first time in 46 years. Since around 1996, decline in wood demand for lumber and plywood was accelerated due
to a decrease in number of new housing starts, and wood demand for chip and pulp production decreased.

The volume of domestic wood production bottomed out in 2002 and turned to upward trend. Increasing use of thinned wood for plywood production contributed to this trend (Fig. I-7).

Import of roundwood has been decreasing. Import of wood products decreased after hitting a peak in 1997.

Fig. I-7: Changes in wood supply (by domestic wood, imported roundwood, and imported wood products)

In 2003, more domestic roundwood supplied than imported roundwood while the number of lumber mills in Japan continued to decrease. Supply of domestic roundwood has been on an increasing trend thereafter.

In the context with increasing use of pre-cut lumber in wooden houses and review of building legislation after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the demand for kiln-dried lumber and laminated lumber whose quality and performance are stable, increased.

Supported by technical improvement of rotary lathes and use of thick plywood for houses, production of plywood made from domestic roundwood, such as thinned wood, increased.

The use of thinned softwood, as well as construction refuse wood, for wood chips has increased while that of hardwood and mill residue wood has decreased.

Pre-cut mills have become bases for wood processing and distribution as they procure lumber and laminated lumber process them to structural members and supplying them.

### 3. Recent Trend in the Wood Products Industry and Future Challenges

#### 3.1. Recent Trend in the Wood Products Industry

Wood demand in Japan is showing signs of recovery after hitting the bottom in 2009 but still remains below the level of 2008 and before. To expand overall wood demand, wood use in the non-residential sector such as public buildings, the civil engineering sector and the woody biomass sector, in addition to housing sector and paper and paperboard sector, is expected.
Planted forest resources, in particular, are now ready for harvest in Japan. To utilize such resources, building an efficient and stable wood supply system, in response to changing demands, is one of challenges for forestry and the wood products industry.

Wood import has been on a declining trend, but imported wood still accounts for more than 70% of the total wood demand of which approximately 90%, is imported in the form of wood products. It represents that only around 40% of all the wood products in Japan is produced domestically.

In the meantime, the share of domestic roundwood consumed by the wood processing industry in Japan has risen to nearly 80%. In 2014, the forestry sector and wood products industry sector released the first-ever joint action declaration on the further promotion of wood use.

#### 3.2. Challenges to be tackled by the Wood Products Industry

In order to strengthen the competitiveness of the wood products industry, it needs to supply wood products in a way that it meets consumers' and demanders' requirements in terms of quality, quantity and time of delivery, while securing stable procurement of roundwood. In recent years, large scale lumber mills have been newly constructed in inland areas with easy access to domestic forest resources (Fig.I-8). Research and development is also important in products areas where imported wood products have dominant shares such as housing beams and plywood for concrete forming.

With the aim of creating new wood demand, it is necessary to develop and commercialize new products and technologies, including Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), wooden fireproof materials and cellulose nanofiber, and to increase exports of wooden products.

It is also necessary that those concerned with the forestry sector collaborate and cooperate with each other to build an efficient and stable roundwood supply system to better respond to the demand of the wood products industry. To this end, additional measures need to be taken to expedite consolidation of forestry practices, development of forestry

Lumber mills, plywood/LVL mills, and laminated lumber mills newly constructed in 2010 onward whose annual consumption of domestic wood as of the end of March 2015 was 30,000m³ or more (roundwood equivalent)

Fig. I-8: Major large mills newly constructed in recent years

road systems, promotion of mechanization, and reduction of costs required for replanting after regeneration cutting and treatment of the planted sites. Expansion of forest certification is another challenge.

Support by the national and local governments to create an enabling environment for those activities as well as understanding of consumers need to be enhanced.
### 1. Current State of Forests and Basic Policy for Forest Management and Conservation

#### 1.1. Forest Resources and Multiple Functions

Two-thirds of Japan’s land area is covered with forests, with a total forested area of 25 million hectares. Approximately 40% of these forests are artificially planted forests. The total growing stock is increasing by around 100 million $ m^{3} $ annually, and has now reached approximately 4.9 billion $ m^{3} $ (Fig.II-1).

Forests now provide a variety of goods and services indispensable for people's lives and national economy in Japan through the

Fig. II-1: Growing stock in forest

fulfilment of multiple functions such as land conservation, watershed conservation, and mitigation of global warming, among others.

#### 1.2. Fundamental Policy on Forest and Forestry

Forest management and conservation activities are being implemented based on the “Forest and Forestry Basic Plan” (July 2011) which was formulated in accordance with the “Forest and Forestry Basic Act” as well as the “National Forest Plan” (October 2013), formulated in accordance with the “Forest Act.”

National strategies, the “Japan Revitalization Strategy” and the “Plan for Creating Dynamism through Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Industries and Local Communities” state such objectives as transforming forestry into a growth industry through the creation of new wood demand and promoting forest sink activities through forest management and conservation in view of enhancing contribution of the forest sectors to the mitigation of global warming.

### 2. Forest Management

#### 2.1. Promotion of Forest Management

Thinning practices and replanting after regeneration cutting, which are crucial for the maintenance of forest conditions, have been carried out while promoting proper use of forest resources. In some forests, depending on the respective locational conditions, management practices for developing multi-storied forests and long-rotation management have been conducted. It is necessary to carry out thinning as extensively as a total of 520 thousand hectares annually in order to ensure the carbon sequestration required for achieving Japan's greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target. In FY2013, the total area of thinned forests was 520,000 hectares as the same as the target.

The urgent challenge is how to secure stable financial resources for forest management to back up thinning practices required for meeting the GHG emission reduction target, while currently such forest management is implemented by national programs.

The revised “Forest Act” in 2011 introduced the administrative order system to halt logging which has been practiced without giving notification to the authority and oblige those loggers to replant on the site as well as the assurance system of proper management of forests even in cases where the forest owners are unidentified. The Forestry Agency is conducting a survey on forest acquisition by foreigners and 14 cases (totaling 194 hectares) were reported in 2013.
Stable supply of seedlings, which are prerequisite for replanting after regeneration cutting, is also important. The Forestry Agency has been promoting expansion of the production of seedlings raised in the container (Fig.II-2) as well as the development of second-generation elite trees. Countermeasures against pollen dust through, inter alia, supplying seedlings of low-pollen Japanese cedar variations is posing a pressing need (Fig.II-3).

Fig. II-2: The production volume of

seedlings raised in the container

Fig. II-3: The production volume of seedlings

of low-pollen Japanese cedar

#### 2.2. People’s Participation in Forest Management

In May 2014, the 65th National Tree Planting Ceremony was held in Niigata Prefecture, followed by the 38th National Tree Tending Ceremony held in Yamagata Prefecture in October.

In recent years, voluntary forestry activities by NPOs and private companies are expanding. Additionally, the business sector shows growing interest in revitalization of forestry and its contribution to local development.

Donations for forest management are solicited through the “Green Fundraising Campaign” (approximately 2.3 billion yen was collected in 2013).

35 of 47 prefectures have introduced their own local taxation systems with the objective of supporting forest management activities (total revenue collected through the taxation system was estimated to amount to 28.3 billion yen in FY2014).

#### 2.3. Research & Development and Dissemination

Based on the “National Research and Development Strategy in the Forest, Forestry, and Wood Products Industry” established in September 2012, the national government in cooperation with the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute and prefectural governments is conducting research and development to provide solutions for current policy challenges.

The Forestry Agency has been developing technical experts with considerable knowledge and expertise in forest and forestry (“Foresters”). Since FY2014, those who passed an examination have come to be registered as certified Foresters, whose information is made public.

### 3. Forest Conservation

#### 3.1. Protection Forests

Forests providing particularly important public benefits, including watershed conservation and soil loss prevention, are designated as “protection forests,” which have reached 12.12 million hectares as of FY2013. Even in other forests than protection forests, the land development control system is applied in accordance with the “Forest Act” to regulate the development of forests into other land uses.
#### 3.2. Disaster Control

In response to natural disasters which occurred in mountainous areas, the Forestry Agency dispatched technical officials to the damaged areas to conduct surveys of the extent of the damage as well as to elaborate recovery work.

The Forestry Agency and prefectural governments conduct “forest conservation projects.” The projects include installation of disaster control facilities, replanting trees for the stabilization of mountain slopes, restoration of devastated mountain streams and development of coastal disaster-prevention forests.

#### 3.3. Conservation of Forest Biodiversity

The Forestry Agency is promoting appropriate thinning, the development of ecologically diversified forests and the conservation of wilderness forest ecosystems, based on the “National Biodiversity Strategy of Japan 2012-2020,” which was adopted by the Government of Japan (GOJ) in September 2012.

The Forestry Agency is also promoting the conservation of forests including those identified as World Heritage sites. In 2014, “Tadami” and “Minami-Alps” were newly added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves while the area of the “Shiga Highlands Biosphere Reserve” was expanded.

#### 3.4. Wildlife and Pest Control

In FY2013, approximately 9,000 hectares of forests were damaged by wild animals grazing trees and undergrowth, 80% of which was caused by deer (Fig.II-4). This serious situation has been caused by increased population of deer and the expansion of their habitat.

Installation and maintenance of protective fences as well as control of wildlife population through capturing have been promoted. New methods to capture wildlife in an effective manner are being experimented with and developed.

In FY2013, the volume of pine trees damaged by the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) stood at 630 thousand m $ ^{3} $ , approximately one-fourth of its peak, but such damage is still the worst among all forest pests and diseases in Japan. The volume of

Fig. II-4: Area of forests damaged by major wild animals in FY2013

damage to Quercus spp. and Castanopsis spp. trees caused by the oak platypodid beetle (Platypus quercivorus) was 50 thousand m $ ^{3} $ , approximately one-sixth of its recently peak year, FY2010. The Forestry Agency is implementing preventive measures through the application of chemicals as well as logging and fumigation of affected trees.

### 4. International Cooperation

#### 4.1. Promotion of Sustainable Forest Management

As of 2010, the worldwide forest area was 4.03 billion hectares, or 31% of the total land area. During the decade between 2000 and 2010, the world's forest area decreased by 5.21 million hectares annually. In Africa and South America, more than 3.00 million hectares of forests were lost respectively on an annual basis, while in Asia, the forest area increased by 2.24 million hectares annually due to large-scale afforestation in China (Fig.II-5).
The development of international criteria and indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management is underway. Japan is a member of the Montreal Process for the conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests consisting of Pan-Pacific 12 countries.

Illegal logging hinders the efforts toward sustainable management of forests. The GOJ is promoting international efforts to combat illegal logging in this regard.

Forest certification is a private-sector instrument aiming to advocate consumers' purchase of legally produced wood products for the promotion of sustainable forest management. In Japan, two forest certification schemes, namely the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international

Fig. II-5: Changes in worldwide forest area (by region)

organ, and the Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC), an independent organization operating in Japan, have been carrying out such initiatives. The percentage of certificated forests in Japan is relatively low compared to those in European and North American countries.

#### 4.2. Global Warming and Forests

Measures against global warming are being promoted under international frameworks, in particular the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

For the “First Commitment Period” (2008 to 2012) of the Kyoto Protocol, Japan aimed to remove 3.8% of its 1990 level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, where its national emission reduction commitment was 6%, through the promotion of forest sink activities, including by thinning on the planted forests of an average of 550,000 hectares per year (Japan achieved an 8.4% reduction from the 1990 level against the target of a 6% reduction).

For its FY2020 emission reduction goal (i.e. 3.8% reduction compared to the FY2005 level), Japan is to achieve at least 2.8% through promotion of forest sink activities (thinning of the planted forests must be carried out as extensively as 520,000 hectares per year) (Fig.II-6).

Note 1: In order to achieve domestic emission reduction targets, it is necessary to achieve not only the reduction from the base year emissions (the portion indicated in blue in the figure) but also the reduction in the amount equivalent to an estimated emissions increase due to economic growth, etc. in or after the base year.

Note 2: Excluding the reduction in the amount equivalent to an estimated emissions increase due to economic growth, etc. in or after the base year

Note 3: Target set without the GHG emission-reduction effect by nuclear power generation

Fig. II-6: Forest sink activities in GHG reduction target

In addition, the GOJ has been promoting the REDD+ initiative, the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. Programs on adaptation to climate change are also under consideration.
#### 4.3. International Discussions on Biodiversity

It is estimated that at least 80% of the earth’s remaining terrestrial biodiversity is found in forests. As of December 2014, the Convention on Biological Diversity has been signed by 193 countries and the European Union (EU).

#### 4.4. Japan's Cooperation

Japan is implementing international cooperation for the promotion of sustainable forest management in developing countries by providing technical and financial assistance through bilateral and multilateral schemes.
### 1. Forestry

#### 1.1. Forestry Production

In 2013, the value of gross forestry production was 432.2 billion yen, a 10% increase from the previous year, but it has a declining trend in a long term since the peak in 1980. Among the values of gross forestry production, wood production and mushroom production each account for half of the total (Fig.III-1).

The volume of domestic roundwood production bottomed out at 15.09 million $ m^{3} $ in 2002 and it stood at 19.65 million $ m^{3} $ in 2013 (Fig.III-2). By tree species, the volume of sugi (Japanese cedar) production was the largest 10.90 million $ m^{3} $ (56%), followed by hinoki (Japanese cypress) at 2.30 million $ m^{3} $ (12%), and karamatsu (larch) at 2.26 million $ m^{3} $ (12%). By region, that with the largest production was Tohoku (24%), followed by Kyushu (24%), and Hokkaido (17%).

Fig. III-1: The value of gross forestry production

Fig. III-2: The volume of domestic wood production