Seeing the Forest for the Trees

摘要

Stress may be ubiquitous, but its solutions are not. Time spent in nature for recreation and restoration has deep historical and cultural roots throughout the world. The eddies and swirls of seasonal winds, the fractal branching of trees, the low murmur of streams, and the Fibonacci structure of flower petals all provide conscious and unconscious cues that settle the addled mind. The ordered complexity found in natural environments is key to their intelligibility and, indeed, enduring allure. In Japan, strands of historical silviculture and more recent scientific inquiry-along with traditions of painting, poetry, and landscape design-are visible in the modern practice of shinrin-yoku, "forest bathing," wherein walking in natural landscapes is thought to improve health. Today, shinrin-yoku is practiced at 52 Forest Therapy Bases, with as many as 100 ultimately envisioned across the archipelago.