In the forest after thinning Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (President: Takahiko Miyoshi) opens the Kitayama Forest, a 670 hectares forest owned by Nippon Paper Industries in the city of Fujinomiya in Shizuoka, to Nihon Construction College (Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, President: Masuo Watanabe), run by Fugaku Gakuen, for educational purposes. The Kitayama Forest is located on the southwestern side of Mt. Fuji. With an approximate forest capacity of 140,000 cubic meters, it is filled with plantation of Japanese cedars and cypresses aged 40 and older. On a gently sloping mountainside, it is a sustainable and efficient source of high quality lumber that serves as building materials. In December 2003, Kitayama Forest obtained Japan's unique forest certification from the Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC). This certification is recognition that sound forest management is maintaining both the great natural environment and sustainable lumber production. Nihon Construction College was established in 1987 by the late Yasuji Kikuchi, who was a master carpenter and the founding president of Kikuchi Kensetsu Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture, President: Yoshikazu Nakao). The college's mission was to train architectural technicians, equipping them with the skills to continue traditional Japanese building techniques. In its 2004 academic year, the college launched a new discipline called “Studies on Forestry Resources,”to begin providing future architectural technicians. Actually producing lumber for building purposes, the Kitayama Forest now serves as a learning field that gives them practical experience, learning processes ranging from sound forest management to lumber production. Nihon Construction College: http://www.nihonkenchiku.ac.jp/ Kikuchi Kensetsu Co., Ltd.: http://www.kikuchi-kensetsu.co.jp/ →Go back to Use of the Forests Owned by Nippon Paper Industries