Norimasa Takayama

Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan · Planning Department

The primary challenge in collecting biodiversity information using citizen science is to encourage a diverse range of people to participate. This is crucial in fostering a Nature Positive society. Social media approaches have the potential to engage not only nature lovers but also a wider range of citizens, including those indifferent to nature. Ho...

This study investigated the degree of physical and mental recovery and improvement in sleep, happiness, and work motivation, as well as subsequent behavioral changes, after a two day and one night stay in Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture, December 4 and 5, 2021, among participants of a Shinrin-yoku health tour held in Inokashira-ku, Fujinomiya...

Timber and non-timber ecosystem services (ESs) of forests can have trade-offs. These trade-offs are often inf luenced by local characteristics, and a higher awareness of local ESs among the location population could support forest management to supply ESs sustainably. This study examines trade-offs among timber and non-timber ESs in three adjacent...

Background: We previously found that a forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) program significantly reduced the scores for depression, anxiety, anger, fatigue, and confusion and increased the score for vigor in the profile of mood states (POMS) test and showed a potential preventive effect on the depressive status in both males and females. In the present s...

Background: Natural sounds are reportedly restorative, but most research has used one-off experiments conducted in artificial conditions. Research based on field experiments is still in its infancy. This study aimed to generate hypotheses on the restorative effects of listening to natural sounds on surgeons, representing professionals working in s...

This study investigated the physiological and psychological therapeutic effects of a digital Shinrin-yoku environment constructed indoors in an urban facility as well as the characteristics of the environment that contribute to restorativeness (restorative traits). We measured the fluctuations in the physical and mental states of 25 subjects by obt...

Forest recreation can be successfully used for the psychological relaxation of respondents and can be used as a remedy for common problems with stress. The special form of forest recreation intended for restoration is forest bathing. These activities might be distracted by some factors, such as viewing buildings in the forest or using a computer in...

Although forestry plantations dominate landscapes in many parts of the world, effects of plantation forestry on various ecosystem services (ESs) remain unknown. Here, we modeled 10 forest ESs as functions of forest type (natural forest vs. plantation), stand age, and environmental covariates to systematically evaluate ESs of plantation landscapes i...

Forest bathing is an outdoor activity, and it might be a promising preventive treatment for social problems involving stress. A vast number of studies confirm the positive effects of this activity on people’s health. Nevertheless, little is known about the influence of winter forest bathing when conducted in an environment with snow cover on the gr...

In this study, we used an irradiation system to investigate differences in the following: (1) impressionistic assessment of room environment; (2) effects on physical and psychological restorativeness; and (3) job satisfaction due to brief rests in a nursing home room with or without Komore-bi. Results showed that impressionistic assessment (SD/PRS)...

Previous research has mainly dealt with the physiological and psychological restorative effects of the forest environment. However, comparatively few studies have focused on how the traits and attributes of individuals (individual traits) affect the restorative effects of the forest environment. In this study, we examined the relationships between...

Forest recreation can be successfully used for the psychological relaxation of respondents and can be used as a remedy for common problems with stress. The special form of forest recreation intended for restoration is forest bathing. These activities might be distracted by some factors, such as viewing buildings in the forest or using a computer in...

To promote domestic forestry smoothly in the future, understanding nonexperts' views on forestry and cutting methods is necessary. In the present study, we investigated an aesthetic (cognitive/evaluative) value of the nonexperts for the six types of cutting methods (clear-cutting, group cutting, old tree residual cutting, extensive residual cutting...

The positive effect of forest bathing on the mental health and wellbeing of those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or experiencing stress has been proven. It is not known, however, how 'forest therapy' affects the mental health of people who are treated in a psychiatric hospital for affective or psychotic disorders. Potentially, forest...

Many studies have reported that natural sounds (e.g., birdsong) are more restorative than urban noise. These studies have used physiological and psychological indicators, such as the skin conductance level (SCL) and the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), to evaluate the restorative effect of natural sounds. However, the effect of faint backgrou...

Forest recreation can be successfully conducted for the purpose of psychological relaxation, as has been proven in previous scientific studies. During the winter in many countries, when snow cover occurs frequently, forest recreation (walking, relaxation, photography, etc.) is common. Nevertheless, whether forest therapy conducted in a forest envir...

Forest recreation can be successfully conducted for the purpose of psychological relaxation, as has been proven in previous scientific studies. During the winter in many countries, when snow cover occurs frequently, forest recreation (walking, relaxation, photography, etc.) is common. Nevertheless, whether forest therapy conducted in a forest envir...

Previous research has mainly dealt with the physiological and psychological restorative effects of the forest environment. However, comparatively few studies have focused on how the traits and attributes of individuals (individual traits) affect the restorative effects of the forest environment. In this study, we examined the relationships between...

“Forest bathing” can evoke positive physiological responses and relieve stress. We investigated how restoration from a stress stimulus is affected by forest management and an individual’s personal traits. For the study, we recruited 17 males and took them to either an unmanaged forest (UF) with densely packed trees or a managed forest (MF) with imp...

Forest recreation is an activity that could be successfully used to alleviate negative symptoms of stress in individuals. Multiple positive psychological and physiological effects have been described in the literature, especially regarding works describing research from Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. In East-Central Europe, howev...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the absence or existence and the traits and factors of changes occurring in “QOL” and “mood states” of respondents, who generally live in urban areas, during their stay at a university forest in a famous resort area. The research sites included the university forest and its accommodation facilities, whic...

This study aimed to investigate the absence or existence of changes and traits of stress coping, resilience, and mood states of respondents, who usually live in urban areas, during their stay in a suburban forest in a popular resort area. The study site and accommodation facility belonged to Fuji Iyashinomori Woodland Study Center, the University o...

The impact of winter forest bathing on human psychological states was investigated in this study. Sixty-two participants were divided into two groups, each group was exposed to city forest or urban (control) environment for 15 minutes. The participants filled up four psychological questionnaires before and after exposure: the profile of mood states...

We investigated the influence of slight thinning (percentage of woods: 16.6%, basal area: 9.3%) on landscape appreciation and the psychological restorative effect of an on-site setting by exposing respondents to an ordinarily managed coniferous woodland. The experiments were conducted in an experimental plot in the same coniferous woodland in May (...

We investigated the influence of forest management on landscape appreciation and psychological restoration in on-site settings by exposing respondents to an unmanaged, dense coniferous (crowding) forest and a managed (thinned) coniferous forest; we set the two experimental settings in the forests of the Fuji Iyashinomoroi Woodland Study Center. The...

One can relativize one's own environmental values by comparison with those of the people in other countries, thereby recognizing that these values are indispensable for sustainable development in each country. This study, which focused on Russia and Japan, aimed to clarify the commonality, differences, and factors influencing environmental att...

Landscape evaluation using psychometrical methods was pioneered by Peterson (1967). Such studies were popularized during 1970-1990's, but recently such research has tended to decrease. Figure 1 shows that the number of survey papers follows a similar tendency. Various technical developments of measurements and analysis were tried, and the first pre...

Japan and Russia have deeply rooted cultural traditions regarding natural landscape appreciation, share a common border, and have areas with similar natural environments. They differ, however, in cultural, historical, and economic aspects. The purpose of this study was to reveal the similarities and differences between Russian and Japanese responde...

The purposes of this study were to develop a ROS (Restorative Outcome Scale) Japanese edition (ROS-J), in order to investigate the psychological restorative effect (PRE) by the natural environment and to verify its validity and reliability, and to investigate the PRE of forest bathing in both secondary circumstance and short time for developing an...

We investigated the impact of viewing versus not viewing a real forest on human subjects' physiological and psychological responses in the same setting. Fifteen healthy volunteers (11 males, four females, mean age 36 years) participated. Each participant was asked to view a forest while seated in a comfortable chair for 15 min (Forest condition) vs...

The present study investigated the well-being effects of short-term forest walking and viewing ("forest bathing"). The hypothesis in our study was that both environment (forest vs. urban) and activity (walking and viewing) would influence psychological outcomes. An additional aim was to enhance basic research using several psychological methods. We...

. Despite increasing attention toward forest therapy as an alternative medicine, very little evidence continues to be available on its therapeutic effects. Therefore, this study was focused on elucidating the health benefits of forest walking on cardiovascular reactivity. Methods . Within-group comparisons were used to examine the cardiovascular re...

In the on-site forest environment (the mixed forest of a Larch, Giant dogwood and Veitch fir), we set out our research purpose, which clarified the psychological healing effect of forest scenery as visual stimuli on respondents. With 15 male and female adult respondents respectively, we conducted a viewing experiment to investigate the affect, subj...

The purpose of this research was to investigate an attention restorative effect in the short-term staying of the on-site forest environment, using PRS based on an attention restoration theory (ART). Participants were 45-male-university students in their early twenties. The city environments where were the daily living environment were chosen as the...

It is said that the healing effects of forests are produced by gaining information about the physical environment of forests through our five senses. The effects of forest therapy are produced when we feel positively every environmental factor, such as the trees, flowers, and the activities of birds and insects, through our senses and sensory organ...

We showed 2 images such as photos with sunshine filtering through the foliage (SFTF) and control in the forest as a simulation for 17 subjects, and examined the change in the physiology index (pulse, blood pressure, brain blood stream) during the experiment, as well as subjective evaluations for each stimulation after the experiment. Consequently,...

With increased economic and tourism interests in both Japan and Russia, culturally different meanings of ‘forest’ need to be understood for future cooperative environmental management. In this study, we propose Landscape Image Sketching Technique as an original, practical methodology to externalise an individual landscape image as a scene sketc...

The purpose of this study was to clarify; 1) the psychological stress reduction effect (PSRE) that "sunshine filtering through foliage (SFTF)" brings visually, 2) the relation between the effect and the subjective appraisal (SA) of the forest environment otherwise the personality and other traits (PAOT), 3) the system of PAOT- SA- PSRE based on Laz...

The present study aimed to clarify the relationship between psychological responses to forest and urban environmental settings and the physical variables that characterize these environments, by examining the psychological responses of 168 subjects to their physical environment. Field experiments were conducted in 14 forests and 14 urban areas acro...

It is said that the healing effects of forests are produced by gaining information about the physical environment of forests through our five senses. The effects of forest therapy are produced when we feel positively every environmental factor, such as the trees, flowers, and the activities of birds and insects, through our senses and sensory organ...

The present study aimed to clarify the relationship between psychological responses to forest and urban environmental settings and the physical variables that characterize these environments, by examining the psychological responses of 168 subjects to their physical environment. Field experiments were conducted in 14 forests and 14 urban areas acro...

抄録 We examined the creation of a comfortable forest environment according to user requests by Grounded Theory Approach (GTA). The respondents, who were 33 male students in their early 20s, were requested to walk on three different featured forest therapy roads, to watch a forest environment for 15 min., and to answer the questionnaires as feedback....

Recently, the approach of the quantitative grasp and evaluation for a biodiversity has been advanced on the international and the national level. Then, in order to contribute to the effective discussion using the quantitative information for the biodiversity conservation policy, we extracted quantitative information had used for The National Biodiv...

In this study, we paid attention on light intensity inside the forest. The purpose of this study was to discuss the guideline of forest management for comfortable light environment. At first, in several man-made coniferous forests, we investigated the light intensity and the complete enumeration. And we thought of the relation between light intensi...

In order to design comfortable spaces forShinrin-yoku (taking in the atmosphere of the forest), it is important to psychological effects and forest environment of walking and sitting in various forests of 10areas. In this study we examined and analyzed impressions of forests, psychological effects, using the Semantic Differential Method and Profile...

We previously reported that forest bathing trips enhanced human NK activity, number of NK cells, and intracellular anti-cancer proteins in lymphocytes, and that the increased NK activity lasted for more than 7 days after the trip in male subjects. In the present study, we investigated the effect of forest bathing trip on human NK activity in female...

In order to explore the effect of forest bathing on human immune function, we investigated natural killer (NK) activity; the number of NK cells, and perforin, granzymes and granulysin-expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) during a visit to forest fields. Twelve healthy male subjects, age 37-55 years, were selected with informed consent f...

In the present research, the authors attempted to use Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the causal relation among 1: 'evaluation' and 'activity (recreational and management activity) ' vis-a-vis familiar forests, 2:mental "attitude" toward the natural environment, and 3: the natural environment in the area of daily life (abbreviated as NEAD)...

There have been several studies on the therapeutic effects of “bathing” in a forest atmosphere by strolling, and many effects have been scientifically verified. There are generally two types of cases of strolling in a forest. One is to do it alone and the other is to be accompanied by a guide. However, few studies have examined the differences betw...

Abstract: Western visitors described the comparison of landscape between Japan and Switzerland, and they appreciated Japanese landscape favorably compared to Switzerland. We summarized and anal}'zed their descriptions in terms of the reason of appreciation and structural factors of landscape composition. Heine appreciated the beauty of Mt. Fuji fro...

In order to design comfortable spaces for "Shinrin-yoku" (taking in the atmosphere of the forest), it is important to investigate the physiological and psychological effects of walking in various landscapes. In this study we examined and analyzed physiological and psychological effects and user impressions of landscapes using Profile of Mood States...

In order to make the space design of a comfortable bathing in the forest atmosphere (BIFA), it is important to investigate the effect to a human body first and then the characters of many physical factors constituting the forest space. In this paper we research and analyze physical factors constituting the elements of BIFA, especially light intensi...

景観を評価する際に, 日常的に主体を取り巻く環境の相違等がその評価構造に差異をもたらすことが考えられる。本研究では, 主体の日常的な植物等との視覚的な関りの度合いと, 自然眺望景観に対して懐くイメージの評価構造との関連について調べるため, まず各主体が「現在」「過去」の生活域周辺において懐いている緑量 (「緑量のイメージ」) について調べた。次に, 自然眺望景観を対象としてSD法を用いた評価実験を行い,「緑量のイメージ」の多少との関連についての分析を行った。結果として, 実験に用いた一部の評価尺度と, 主体の評価構造を構成する因子軸の寄与の順序, 度合いについて「緑量のイメージ」との関連が示唆された。