About Sin-rin

Sin-rin: Cultivating a New Forest Culture

“Sin-rin” 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 Sin-rin 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

Sin-rin is built on two main pillars:

1. 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
2. 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.

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Statement – Upon the Launch of Sin-rin

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 low-carbon 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
*Affiliations and titles are current as of January 2021.

We connect what exists today, to what may come true tomorrow 

Nikken Sekkei Construction Management (NCM) aims to solving challenges across a wide range of architecture-centered projects through professional management service. 

The environment around us is evolving rapidly. Society and businesses are increasingly shifting toward operations that integrate the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) perspectives. As a management consulting firm, we believe it is essential not only to support our clients in responding to these trends, but also to contribute to society through our own independent perspective. 

To mark our 10th anniversary in 2015, we launched a tree-planting initiative on Mount Fuji as part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, continuing the program for five years through 2019. However, following the dissolution of the local NPO, we began exploring new, more self-directed initiatives from 2020 onward. Our new initiative focuses on cutting trees and learning about forests. Through this effort, we will continue to contribute to the environment—the very foundation that supports all of our social activities. 

January 1, 2021 
Kazunori Mizuno 
Former President & CEO 
*Affiliations and titles are current as of January 2021.

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Editorial Team

About the Sin-rin 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.