Is there a species of beech tree in your country?
Beeches are common trees, mainly in Europe, the USA and parts of Asia.
Of course, in Japan, beeches used to occupy a large part of the country's forests.
Today, however, they are only found in certain areas, even there.
Many beech trees have been felled and used since ancient times, but they were cut down rapidly, especially during times of war, in order to use them as materials.
In fact, most of the surrounding mountains in Japan were bald during the war.
Some of the original trees can still be seen near the tops of some sacred mountains.
Nevertheless, there are still untouched beech forests in many parts of Japan.
Beech forests create an ideal environment for many creatures, and the amount of beech fruit produced in a given year influences the ecology of wildlife.
So when wild animals often appear in residential areas, beeches are often mentioned as the cause.
Primeval beech forests can still be found in many parts of Japan, but the primeval beech forests in Tadami Town are the most extensive of them all.
They are said to be several times the size of the beech forests in the Shirakami Mountains, which are registered as a World Heritage Site.
In Tadami Town, there are spots where you can experience the beech forests at close quarters.
One is the Yonazawa beech forest and another called the ‘Iyashi no Mori [relaxing forest）’.
The Yonazawa beech forest is located near the hot spring accommodation facility ’Toki-no-Sato YURARI’, and although it is not very large, it is still large enough for you to experience the atmosphere of a beech forest.
“Iyashi no Mori” has trekking courses through the beech forest that take about one hour to walk around.
I visited the beech forests and found them to have a different atmosphere to other types of forest.
There is a sense of freshness, but there is also a mysterious atmosphere, partly due to the unique patterns of their bark.
They say that they communicate with each other through the smells they emit, and I had the feeling that I was stepping into a world different from the one I live in.
Some people might think that creatures such as fairies or dwarves might appear.
Although they are now so few in number that they are subject to protection, they have been familiar to the Japanese people since ancient times.
It is not difficult to imagine that they have also influenced Japanese culture.
Those who want to learn more about Japan should experience a beech forest.