Japan is covered with forests, so it may seem as if forestry should be an easy industry to sustain. In reality, however, having plenty of trees does not mean that cutting and selling them will leave much profit.
One major reason is Japan’s terrain. On flat land, large machinery can be brought in more easily, and trees can be cut and transported with less effort. Many Japanese forests, however, are on steep slopes. Building access roads, cutting the trees, and moving the logs down to a road all require labor, machinery, and time. Even if the timber itself has value, the cost of harvesting and transport can leave the forest owner with only a small profit.
Another problem is that forest ownership is often divided into many small plots. A large mountainside is not necessarily owned and managed by one person. Neighboring areas may belong to different owners, and boundaries may need to be checked before work can begin. If several owners have to be contacted and agreements made, time and cost are added before a single tree is cut.
Domestic timber also competes with imported wood. Japanese timber often costs more because cutting the trees and moving them out of the mountains is expensive. If it is expensive, it is harder to sell. But if the price is lowered too much, the forest owner may be left with little or no profit. This is another reason forestry can be financially difficult.
There are also fewer people available to do the work. Forestry can be dangerous, and it requires experience in the mountains and skill in using machinery. Even if the trees are fully grown, they cannot become a source of income unless there are people who can cut them and bring them to market.
The difficulty of Japanese forestry is therefore not a shortage of trees. The problem is turning trees standing on a mountainside into timber that can be harvested, transported, and sold at a price that still leaves a profit. A country can have abundant forests without having a highly profitable forestry industry.
