Creating “never-ending forests”
The cycle of creating “never-ending forests” leads to a more abundant future
The Mitsui Fudosan Group owns and manages about 5,000 hectares of forests in Hokkaido, Japan. We are working to create sustainable forests that will lead to a more abundant future by engaging in a cycle of planting, cultivating, and using these forests.
Why we are creating “never-ending forests”
To keep planted forests healthy and protect both people and the planet
Forests cover about 70 percent of Japan’s land area. Forty percent of these areas are planted forests created for the production of wood used in construction and other purposes. Proper management through manual labor is essential in order to keep planted forests healthy. However, since the liberalization of wood imports, the price of domestically-produced wood has remained stagnant. This has caused people to shift away from the forestry industry, leaving many planted forests unmaintained.
Healthy planted forest
Abandoned planted forest
Maintaining healthy forests protects plant and animal diversity and helps prevent landslides and other disasters from occurring. Forests also play a role in mitigating climate change by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. Thus, protecting forests also means protecting our future and the future of our planet.
Mitsui Fudosan Group’s cycle of creating “never-ending forests”
Planting
Saplings are planted individually by hand, and employees provide training on tree planting.
Cultivating
Regular maintenance such as underbrush clearing and thinning.
Using
Timber from Group-owned forests is used for construction and other purposes.
Planting
Every year, the Mitsui Fudosan Group plants 90 to 100 thousand saplings.
In addition, every year since 2008, Group employees have been conducting tree-planting training activities. By planting saplings one at a time, employees experience being a part of creating a “never-ending
forest” and a creator of the future environment.
Eight Olympic athletes, including Kentaro Minagawa (alpine skier), Aiko Uemura (freestyle skier), and Narumi Takahashi (figure skater), also participated in the tree-planting training conducted in Biei Town, Hokkaido. Together with Mitsui Fudosan employees, they planted about 500 Dahurian larch saplings.
Conducting tree-planting
training activities with Olympic athletes
Mitsui Fudosan is a TEAM JAPAN Gold Partner in
the category of “Real Estate Development.”old
Cultivating
Regular maintenance is essential in order to sustain a healthy forest. In planted forests owned by the Mitsui Fudosan Group, we systematically plant trees while performing maintenance such as underbrush clearing and thinning to uphold the cycle of creating “never-ending forests.”
Planting
Underbrush clearing and vine cutting
Thinning Regeneration cutting
Timber from
Group-owned
forests
Timber is used in Group business or sold
Using
Timber that has been systematically harvested at the right time or thinned for forest maintenance is actively used by Group companies as construction materials or to build office furniture and toys.
Bringing richness and warmth into everyday life through the power of wood
The wood harvested from our forests is actively used by our Group companies. We also use the wood in buildings and homes, engaging in a number of initiatives that contribute to our customers’ everyday lives and urban development. The following are just a few examples. Wood is a building material that not only provides people with a sense of comfort, but is also friendly to the earth. Compared to other materials such as steel or concrete, wood emits less CO2 during construction. Wood also stores CO2 after completion, thereby helping to protect the global environment.
Wooden homes that offer both warmth and functionality
MOCXION, a wooden condominium built by our Group company Mitsui Home Co., Ltd., also makes use of wood as a building material.
Not only does the condominium offer a sense of warmth that only wood can provide, it has also been recognized for its heat insulation, humidity control,
and sound insulation capabilities.
Wooden condominium “MOCXION”
People and planet-friendly wooden offices
Together with Takenaka Corporation, we are working on a project to construct one of the largest wooden office buildings in Japan.
Rendering of the completed
wooden office building under consideration
Other usage examples
Group company facilities
LaLaport Fukuoka
FARM STUDIO Rental Room
Mitsui Fudosan Logistics Park Ebina I
Staff Room
Mitsui Fudosan Head Office Reception
As a building material
Balcony ceiling and floor material in Gate Square,
Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City
Structural plywood in detached houses
In city benches and business cards
Wooden benches
in Nihonbashi Muromachi Mitsui Tower
Mitsui Fudosan business cards
We distribute a leaflet that helps parents and children learn about the cycle of creating “never-ending forests” and forest conservation at events held at Mitsui Fudosan’s commercial facilities and other opportunities.
The Secret to HealthyForests and Trees
See the e-book in Japanese import_contacts