The Forest Speaks of Modern Times: Yakushima's Memories and Environmental Changes (Meiji - Showa Period)

The Forest Speaks of Modern Times: Yakushima's Memories and Environmental Changes (Meiji - Showa Period)

In Yakushima from the Meiji period onward, large-scale logging of Yakusugi cedars began, and the island's landscape and ecosystem changed rapidly. The forests were placed at the center of the economy, as the timber was taken out to rebuild the finances of the Satsuma clan and as fuel for modern industry. For the islanders, however, the forests were not just a resource, but also the root of their lives, where their ancestral spirits dwelled. In the face of trees lost to logging, the islanders said, "The forest nurtured us," and they continued to regard the forest as a personal entity. During the period of rapid economic growth after World War II, the island's mountainsides were stripped bare by the development of power sources and the opening of forest roads, but at the same time, a sense of "forests to protect" and "forests to pray for" emerged, forming the origin of the environmental movement. While wavering between faith and industry, the islanders did not sever their relat
ionship with the forest. Today, the Yakusugi cedars are protected as a World Heritage site, but behind them live the memories of people who lived simultaneously to cut down trees and to pray.