Welcome to “The Forest of Life.”

The city Kyoto is where people from all walks of life gather every day and interact vibrantly. If you step out of the quiet alleyway and head toward the main street, you’ll find yourself in the bustling city of Kyoto. This thousand-year-old capital, where “stillness” and “movement” coexist side by side, is a place where Japanese culture continues to thrive to this day.

That forest is located right in the heart of the city. Umekoji Park is not too far from Kyoto Station. This apparently warm place, which resembles a vast meadow, is also home to the Kyoto City Aquarium.

It’s located right inside that park. It’s a forest where you can experience nature even while in the city.

“The Forest of Life.”
That’s what Kyoto residents affectionally call it.

A city where people gather and interact vibrantly. When you live there, it’s common to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life or work, which can leave you feeling mentally exhausted.
At such times, I naturally miss forest – no doubt because I grew up in the countryside, surrounded by greenery. When I was a child, green mountains were simply a natural part of my surroundings. There was soil, grass grew, and small creatures such as ants and frogs lived alongside us on the ground.
Surrounded by the forest and nature, we all live together. That is the world in which I have lived.
‘The Forest of Life’. It was indeed a place where that natural environment had been magnificently recreated.

Although it felt like a small area, I could sense the vibrant energy of nature all around me in that forest. There was soil, grass growing, trees taking root in the earth, and beneath them, ants scurrying about energetically, going about their business.

There was a small spring, and nearby, pigeons were hopping about here and there, whilst tiny birds flitted freely amongst the greenery.

The sound of leaves rustling against one another. The wind blows, causing the leaves to sway, and before my eyes stand the lush, verdant trees. As I sat on the bench gazing at the scene, indescribable sense of tranquility seemed to emanate from the trees.
We often hear that forest bathing is good for our health, and it’s actually been scientifically proven,

It is said that the sounds of the forest produce high-frequency sounds reaching as high as 130 kilohertz. The calls of birds and insects, the rustling of leaves, and the murmur of a babbling brook. The sounds produced by these creatures span an extremely wide frequency range of 130 kilohertz, don’t they? Generally speaking, forests are strongly associated with ‘silence’. In reality, however, forests are filled with a world of sound that is far richer than that of cities.

And it is known that the high-frequency sounds emitted by forest activate neurotransmitters in our brains and boost our immune systems (Yoshinori Yasuda, Towards a Century of Life Civilization: The Encounter between ‘Geography of Life’ and ‘Environmental Archaeology’*, Daisan Bunmeisha Co., Ltd.m, 2008, etc.).

What do you think? Doesn’t it really live up to its name, ‘Forest of Life’?

Life coexists with life, birds, ants and water all live together in the forest. Everyone is going about the business of life together in the forest. It’s wonderful, isn’t it? I could stay here forever.

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Author

Jubei
Hello everyone. I am Jubei, an earthling whose energy does not stop today. What I like is playing (manga, movies, music (J-Rock, etc.) and visiting cafes). Thank you for your understanding.