In order to create an ecosystem of Cyclical Craftsmanship, we are borrowing the knowledge and skills of forestry industry professionals to cultivate a forest that will continue to support crafts long into the future. We are taking care to do this as sustainably as possible. With Urushi as our main focus, we are planting and cultivating trees that can become crafting materials. As for the trees such as paulownias, which are already growing in the forest and can themselves be used as crafting materials, we will carefully cut down the trees that surround them so that they can have a more favorable environment for them to thrive in.
Through topics such as culture, the environment, the region, education and wellness, we will bring in a community with diverse interests and passions to practice the morizukuri of “Forest of Craft.” Morizukuri means to create healthy forest ecosystems by caring for and diversifying trees. It also means to live in harmony with the forest, making sure to give back to it as much as one takes, just as people did in the distant past. The concept of morizukuri is a part of a larger societal movement to live in greater harmony with nature through traditional means.
Our efforts are based out of Gappei Kinen Forest, managed by the Kyoto City Municipal Government and located in Keihoku. In one corner of this 268 hectare area is our forest. At the end of the Showa era (1926-1989) a plan was in the works to turn it into a golf course. When the economy crashed, the plan was abandoned. The government took possession of the forest and spared it from any economic exploitation, leading to it becoming unlike any commercial forest. It was these four policies enacted by the Kyoto City Municipal Government that saved it: “a forest for passing down traditional skills,” “a sustainably managed forest,” “a diverse forest,” and “a forest to help prevent natural disasters.” PERSPECTIVE empathizes with these policies, and entered into an agreement to participate in the management of the forest.
Our main base of activities is the area stretching from the urban heart of Kyoto to the mountainous region of Keihoku, located an hour by car northwest of the city. Over a thousand years ago, Keihoku’s lumber helped fuel the construction of the capital city Heian-kyo (modern-day Kyoto). PERSPECTIVE established its base in this mountainous town that has preserved the wisdom of its ancestors who practiced a small-scale, cyclical economy, and a community has begun to spring up around us that is working towards the actualization of a sustainable society.
