Introduction to the Japanese
Society of Forest Medicine

President　Qing Li, M.D, Ph.D

　The forest environment has been enjoyed by humans for a long time because of the quiet atmosphere, beautiful scenery, calm climate, and clean fresh air in the forest. A forest bathing trip is a short leisurely trip visiting a forest, called "Shinrinyoku" in Japanese, which is similar to a natural aromatherapy. A forest bathing trip involves a visit to a forest field for the purpose of relaxation and recreation by breathing in volatile substances, called phytoncides (wood essential oils), which are antimicrobial volatile organic compounds derived from plants (trees), such as alpha-pinene and limonene. Incorporating forest bathing trips into a good lifestyle was first proposed in 1982 by the Forest Agency of Japan, and the first kick off meeting was held at Akasawa in Nagano prefecture located in northwestern Japan. Now it has become a recognized relaxation and/or stress management activity in Japan.

　However, there has not been sufficient medical evidence supporting the therapeutic effects of forest bathing trips and evidence-based evaluation as well as a therapeutic menu of forest bathing trip have been requested. Against this background, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan initiated a research project between 2004 and 2006 to investigate the therapeutic effects of forests on human health from a scientific perspective. After 3 years, the project team has obtained a lot of results on forest medicine. The project team has found that forest bathing trips reduce the concentration of cortisol in saliva, reduce the concentrations of urinary adrenaline and noradrenaline, reduce prefrontal cerebral activity, reduce blood pressure and stabilize autonomic nervous activity in humans. Moreover, they found that visiting a forest, but not a city, increases human natural killer (NK) activity and the expression of anti-cancer proteins including perforin, granzymes A/B and granulysin, and that the increased NK activity and anti-cancer proteins lasted for more than 30 days after the trip (please refer to English-language papers on forest medicine listed on this website).

　To promote research on forest medicine, it is very important and also necessary to organize an academic society to explore the possibility of a forest bathing trip on the stress management and prevention of diseases, and to present the newest results on the topic of forest medicine.
Based on the background described above, the society of forest medicine was inaugurated by members of the Japanese Society for Hygiene along with members of related academic societies in Japan on March 26, 2007 at Osaka, Japan during the 77th annual meeting of the Society for Hygiene, which was held from March 25-28, 2007 at Osaka, Japan.

　There were about 30 members from universities, academic institutes, persons in charge of forests and human health in local governments and related companies attending the opening ceremony and the kick off meeting of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine (Please see photos). There are about 100 members now.

　The purpose of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine is to promote research on forest medicine including the effects of forest bathing trips and therapeutic effects of forests on human health. The Japanese Society of Forest Medicine will collaborate with the Forest Agency of Japan, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute of Japan, the Society of Forest Therapy, and other related academic societies to carry out the study of forest medicine, collecting and editing documents on the topic of forests and human health, and educational training on the practice of forest bathing trips. It is also to provide a platform for enterprises, universities and local governments who are interested in the practice of forest medicine for promoting the effective uses of forest resources on stress management, health promotion and the prevention and rehabilitation of diseases.