Sin-rin: Cultivating a New Forest Culture
“Sinrin” is a medium operated by Nikken Sekkei Construction Management (NCM) as part of its initiatives to address social challenges by collectively thinking and learning about forests.
The name Sinrin embodies the idea of entering manmade “forests”, taking up an “axe” alongside lumberjacks, ”establishing” a plan together with local communities, and cultivating a “forest” culture rooted in these shared efforts.
Hands-on Lumberjack Experience & Field Interview Stories
Sinrin is built on two main pillars:
- Lumberjack Activities, where NCM employees themselves enter the Tenryu region of Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, to cut trees and gain firsthand experience that prompts reflection on forests; and
- Interview Activities, in which the editorial team visit forestry professionals and others involved with forests across Japan to hear directly about their work and their aspirations.
Through these activities, we aim to think and learn proactively about forests, and to communicate our findings with sincerity, care, and a spirit of enjoyment.
Statement – Upon the Launch of Sinrin
A lumberjack taught us that Japan’s forests have entered an era focused more on cutting.
With about 70% of Japan’s land covered by forests, half of which being artificial forests, we came to understand the difficulty of entering steep forest terrain, cutting trees, and maintaining these landscapes. Compounding this, low timber prices make it hard to transport harvested wood, leaving some no choice but to abandon it in the mountains. We realized that the challenge lies not only in planting trees but significantly in cutting them appropriately. This led us to consider how we might contribute through small but practical efforts.
Forests provide many public benefits, yet today’s artificial forests face numerous challenges. As more practitioners across Japan engage in proactive initiatives and public attention returns to forests, we believe we can help cultivate a new forest culture by connecting and reexamining the various values and issues related to forests in a crossdisciplinary way.
As society moves toward a lowcarbon future, it is crucial to rethink the future of forests and forest culture. Through this medium, we hope to think, learn, and take action together to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.
January 1, 2021
Yuichi Yoshioka, Sustainability Promotion Office
(Current: Sustainability Promotion Group)
つなぐ。 今あるものを まだない明日へ
日建設計コンストラクション・マネジメント（NCM）は、マネジメントというサービスを通じて、建設事業を中心とするあらゆるプロジェクトの課題の解決に貢献する企業です。
今、私たちをとりまく状況は刻々と変化しています。社会や各企業は、SDGs（持続可能な開発目標）やEDG（環境、社会、企業統治）投資を念頭に入れた事業活動へシフトしています。私たちもマネジメント・コンサルティングファームとしてクライアントの皆様のこうした動きに応える他、独自の視点で社会貢献していく必要があると考えます。
2015年の創立10周年に合わせ社会貢献活動（CSR）として富士山での植樹活動を開始し、2019年まで5年間実施してきました。しかしながら、現地NPOの解散に伴い、2020年より新しい主体的な取り組みを検討してまいりました。新たな取組みは木を伐り、森林を知る活動です。この取組みを通じ、私たちの社会活動の根本を支える「環境」に対して引き続き貢献してまいります。
代表取締役社長 水野和則
Editorial Team
Yuki Isobe
Satoko Ueno
Natsumi Ono
Kuoyu Shih
Chisato Kamio
Yoichiro Suzuki
Rikiya Suzuki
Kanako Tomono
Namiki Noda
Asami Murakami
Yuko Morahan
Yuichi Yoshioka
About the Sinrin Printed Booklet
The ShinRin booklet is published once a year.
If you would like a copy, please contact us through the inquiry page.
We will send it to you for the cost of shipping only.
