Trees of tension: re-making nature in post-disaster Tohoku

Abstract

The 2011 tsunami caused widespread deforestation in the coastal areas of Tohoku. In response, secular authorities, religious institutions and civil society organisations have set up a number of projects for replanting coastal forests, and arranged local tree-planting events (shokujusai). This article discusses and compares a number of these initiatives. Tree-planting carries profound symbolic capital in modern Japan, and these projects draw on pre-existing notions and practices. However, there has been significant disagreement concerning the shape these new forests should take, not least when it comes to their species composition. The notion of Japan as a ‘forest civilisation’ is a recurring theme in post-war nationalist scholarship, but such discourse conceals the conflicts that actual forest-making policies have caused. This article argues that in contemporary Japan, individual trees and tree species have come to embody different ideological positions and agendas. An examination of reforestation projects in Tohoku sheds light on some of the complexities of post-disaster ‘reconstruction’, and shows that the symbolic practice of tree-planting is closely connected to contentious political issues such as land use, livelihoods, the power of the construction industry, and the role of religious organisations in public space.

Keywords:

• Chinju no mori
• forest ecology
• Great East Japan Earthquake
• Great Forest Wall Project
• Miyawaki Akira
• reforestation
• religious environmentalism
• tree-planting ceremonies (shokujusai)

Acknowledgements

This article focuses on the period between 2011 and 2018. It draws on field research and interviews conducted in Tohoku (Miyagi and Iwate prefectures) and Tokyo, in October 2011, May 2013, November 2015, and August 2018. This research was made possible by financial support from the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo, and practical support from Tohoku University. I wish to thank Fujinami Shōko, Hatakeyama Makoto, Hioki Dōryū, Iguchi Tsuneaki, Nhung Lu Rots, Nikkawa Makoto, Satō Hiroo, and Takahashi Tomoaki for their contributions. Many thanks also to the anonymous reviewer for helpful feedback on an earlier version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In September 2017, the total number of people confirmed dead was 19,575, while another 2577 were still missing. Data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, on http://www.fdma.go.jp/neuter/topics/houdou/h29/09/290908_houdou_1.pdf (accessed 11 March 2019).

2 This article takes up a number of representative cases, some of which are relatively well-known, but it does not present an exhaustive overview of the existing reforestation projects in Tohoku. There are several other local initiatives, such as the Kokoro no mori (‘Forest of the Heart’) in Ishinomaki, a small satoyama-type forest project that is part of a newly developed coastal park, in a former urban area that was wiped away by the tsunami. Various other small-scale initiatives have been set up throughout the region, including a project by an artist to plant sunflowers at shrines and other selected memorial sites.

3 It should be noted, however, that laurel forests are only native to the southwestern part of Japan. The northeast has a colder climate and is therefore home to temperate broad-leaved forests (i.e. forests made up of trees that lose their leaves in the winter).

4 John Mock states that ‘Forestry is the area suffering the most from misguided MAFF policies. […] Several decades ago MAFF could have started to replace sugi with a mix of native hardwood and conifers […]. However, no such program has been undertaken and, in fact, MAFF seems to resist any such attempts.’ He concludes by saying that MAFF ‘serve[s] existing vested interests’ and ‘discourages innovation’ (Mock 2014, 254–255).

5 As a matter of fact, until 2007, Greenery Day was celebrated on 29 April, the birthday of the late emperor Hirohito, as an implicit recognition of his reign and his love of plants and trees. In 2007, the holiday was renamed Showa Day (Shōwa no hi), a more explicit reference to the late emperor (Hirohito is known in Japan as Emperor Shōwa), and Greenery Day was moved to 4 May.

6 An important corporate sponsor was the agricultural company Espec Mic, which produces greenhouses and other technologies for farming. Likewise, the Green Tide Embankment project was supported by corporate sponsors, including Amino (a manufacturer of industrial machines), Fukamatsu-gumi (a Sendai-based construction company), and Seigetsuki (a funeral business) – hardly the kind of companies one would associate with environmental protection. See respectively https://www.especmic.co.jp/weblog/?p=3053 and http://morinobouchoutei.com/?page_id=32 (accessed 11 March 2019). In fact, this type of corporate sponsorship for temple- or shrine-based conservation initiatives is common throughout Japan (see Rots 2017, 132).

7 The name OISCA is an abbreviation of Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement. The organisation operates internationally, and has set up projects for environmental conservation and sustainable development in a number of countries. It is historically connected with the new religion Ananaikyō, but nominally secular. See Watanabe (2019).

8 ‘Potential natural vegetation’ is the scientific term used by Miyawaki in reference to his ‘native’ furusato trees. Of course, paradoxically, his forests are as much human-made as any plantation forest, but the argument is that they are more ecologically viable (Miyawaki 2000). See Loidi and Fernández-González (2012) for a discussion.

9 See for instance http://www.maff.go.jp/j/pr/aff/0906/spe1_05.html (last accessed: 29 November 2018).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aike P. Rots

Aike P. Rots is at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, 0315, Norway. He may be contacted at [email protected]