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Kosuge Village x Chuo University Recolo Project: A Cedar Spirit Appears!!

The story is set in Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture. A cedar spirit suddenly appears in front of a hiking couple. He had something to tell them. But what exactly did he want to tell them?

The cedar spirit asks the hikers two quiz questions:

  1. Although cedar trees are very conveniently used in many places, it is a bad thing if cedar trees increase too much. Why is that?

Answer: If trees grow too much, sunshine will not be able to touch and nourish the whole forest. In order to protect the health of the forest it is necessary to cut trees moderately.

  1. Kosuge Village is trying to utilize the wood from these thinned trees. What is that method?

Answer: Kosuge Village is using the leftover wood to promote wood growth. Children touch the wood in order to foster a rich heart. They are working on creating a ball pool using the thinned wood recolo was born from.

 

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A Village that Connects Life

Proper maintenance is especially important in the area around Kosuge because it is a watershed forest supplying Tokyo drinking water. If the forests overgrow, sunlight cannot reach the ground and grass will not be able to grow. If undergrowth cannot grow, the soil will not be healthy and erode easily. And if the soil isn’t healthy, it will not be able to absorb, store, and steadily release fresh water into the rivers.

 

Previously, the thinned timber was left unused on the mountain. The Recolo Project is an effort to utilize this leftover wood by hand-making smooth wood balls.

 

  “Recolo” [リコロ ] is an acronym:

 

re’ stands for ‘re-use’ to reuse the thinned wood.

 

co’ means that the students of Chuo University and Kosuge Village ‘co-operate’ to tackle the problem of thinned timber.

 

colo’ means we can realize ‘ecology’ if we can solve the problem of thinning timber.

 

 

 

Recolo creations lead to children’s contact with forest and trees, and provide an opportunity to learn about the importance of forest management. If we can make a lot of balls, we can make a pool for small children – a smooth pool of wood you can enjoy while wearing clothes! The goal is to make 20,000!

In addition to the movie project, students of Chuo University also made a picture book to raise awareness of the problem of thinning wood all over Japan.