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| Wood
Products Trade Introduction North America Europe South America Asia Forests of the World Australia Brazil Canada Chile China Finland Germany Indonesia Japan Korea Mexico Russia United Kingdom Oregon's Forests Forestry Links |
The Forests of Japan | |||
| Japan is very heavily forested at 70% of its total land area, or 25 million
hectares (mha) of its 37 mha total. This 25 mha can be broken down into 23
mha of closed forest area, with 10 mha of planted forests and 14 mha of natural
forests. Japan has one of the highest percentages of forest cover of the
developed countries. However, because of the very high population density
in this small country, the forest area per capita is only about 0.2 hectares,
which is one quarter of the world figure.
About 40% of Japan's forest area, more than 10 million hectares, consists of plantations. These man-made forests consist mostly of softwood species like Sugi (Japanese cedar) or Hinoki (Japanese cypress), and were planted during the 1950's and 1960's. Japan's Forest Distribution Japan's climate is very different from north to south, and gives rise to various kinds of forests. Japan's forests are classified into five types: Sub-tropical zone forest covers Ogasawara and the southwestern islands, where the average temperature is 21°C. Sub-tropical trees and mangrove grow here. Warm temperate zone forest located in Kyushu and Shikoku, and in the southern part of Honshu, where the average temperature is from 13°C to 21°C. Cool temperate zone forest in the central and northern parts of Honshu and the Oshima Peninsula of Hokkaido. Mixed forest of coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved trees, where the average temperature is almost the same as in the Cool temperature zone forest. It is located in the lowlands north of the Oshima Peninsula. Sub-frigid zone forest is located in the mountainous area of Hokkaido and in sub-alpine zones in Honshu and Shikoku, where the average temperature goes up to 6°C. Japan- the Largest Importer of Softwoods Japan is the largest importer of softwood logs and lumber in the world. The softwood market is mainly oriented towards housing construction materials. Japan imports about 44% of the annual consumption of 34 million m3 of softwood logs. For example, 76% of US softwood log exports went to Japan in 1994. Japan is also the largest importer of softwood lumber, and imports about 23% of its 32 million m3 consumption. Again in 1994, 46% of US softwood lumber exports went to Japan. Special Forest Products -- Mushrooms Special Forest Products - mushrooms Shiitake and hirateke mushrooms are the most popular mushrooms produced in Japan. Shiitake mushrooms account for about half of all mushroom production, and their annual sales are about 13 million yen. Japan exports dried shiitake. |
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