Recently we published the Forest of Craft Forest Initiatives Report for 2022. The report is currently only available in Japanese but if you are curious about the specifics of any part of the report please feel free to reach out to us for more information in English.

We have produced this report to inform the people who care about our  day-to-day activities: from the three organizations who support our Forest of Craft, to the many people who have supported us through crowd-funding in the past and the people who have given their time to help in person.

The report focuses in particular on activities in the forest. Starting next year, we will compile a report at the end of each financial year. We look forward to your continued support.

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Closing message from the report:

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Our reforestation activities began quietly in the spring of 2020, amidst the first declaration of a state of emergency, when the fear of COVID-19 swept over Japan. In 2021, COVID-19 had become so commonplace that even the mountainous region of Keihoku, where Forest of Craft is located, saw a marked increase in the number of infections. In 2022, events and group activities finally became easier, but the effects of the war in the Ukraine and the continuing pandemic could now be seen in every corner of society, including the economy and politics.

During that time the forest has continued to be a place of reassurance. It has been rewarding to see that when people carefully take care of the trees they are nurturing, by thinning the surrounding forest or maintaining water veins, they instantly see a tangible response in the form of wind movement, changes in the flow of water and changes in the vegetation. The Forest of Craft's aim is not just harvesting, it is a field of learning where the process of sharing the wisdom of the relationship between people and the trees in the forest with many people is underway. Through these activities, we feel the level of detail with which we ourselves see the forest has risen considerably.

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In the past few years, we've felt that the message of Forest of Craft, "our culture is supported by nature, and that culture-making starts with forest-making", has come to resonate with more and more people. We would like to say that this is the result of our steady and persistent activities, but in reality it probably is a reflection of just how many more people feel moved to take action in response to the various alarming social phenomena that are occurring as the planet approaches its limits. We cannot help but feel grateful for the fact that our forests are being nurtured at such a 'turning point of the earth' by people who have high expectations for the activities of the Forest of Craft, giving us hope. We will continue our efforts to deepen our own learning, to make this forest a field that encourages many people to learn, and to expand such a forest as much as possible. We look forward to your continued support.

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2022.12.30

Forest of Craft project lead

PERSPECTIVE Founder-directors Takuya Tsutsumi & Sachiko Takamuro