Forest Science Seminar on the Otonomori Project and Forest Management
The Department of Forest Science hosted a Forest Science Seminar on December 2, featuring a lecture on Yamaha Corporation’s Oto no Mori (“Forest of Sound”) Project by Kazushi Nakai, the project manager (Yamaha Corporation / Program-Specific Associate Professor, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University). In addition, Haruka Yamaguchi, Researcher at the Japan International Forestry Promotion and Cooperation Center (JIFPRO), provided a mini-talk on corporate forest management and information disclosure, including insights related to the Otonomori Project.
Although we are generally aware that wood is used in musical instruments, we rarely consider where each component that produces beautiful sound is sourced, or under what forest management practices it is obtained. Nakai discussed the Otonomori Project, a forest-based initiative in which companies and researchers collaborate with local communities to sustainably produce suitable wood for musical instruments. Using the example of Tanzanian Blackwood, he explained long-term forest management and reforestation efforts, as well as approaches to collaboration with local stakeholders and enhancing incentives for sustainable practices.
Yamaguchi introduced cases of Japanese companies engaging in overseas plantation projects and analyzed them through the lens of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). She clearly explained how companies develop “strategies” to address their “dependencies and impacts / risks and opportunities” in plantation areas, the significance and challenges of TNFD disclosures, and practical suggestions for companies preparing to begin TNFD reporting.
The seminar was moderated by Professor Ryo Kohsaka, who also serves as a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) "Methodological assessment of the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people (Business and Biodiversity Assessment)".
【Date & Time】Tuesday, December 2, 2025, 17:30〜19:00
【Venue】Lecture Room 6, Building 1, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo.
【Program】
Lecture: Yamaha’s Otonomori Initiative: Toward Sustainable and Biodiversity-conscious Use of Wood
Speaker: Kazushi Nakai, Ph.D (Project Manager, Otonomori Project, Musical Instruments Production Unit, Yamaha Corporation / Program-Specific Associate Professor, Deputy Head, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University)
Mini-talk: Approaches to Corporate Disclosure of Plantation Activities: Insights from Case Studies
Speaker: Haruka Yamaguchi (Researcher, Japan International Forestry Promotion and Cooperation Center, JIFPRO)
【Organizer】Laboratory of Forest Landscape Planning and Design Department of Forest Science, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Kazushi Nakai presenting on reforestation efforts
Many questions from the audience
Haruka Yamaguchi giving an introduction to JIFPRO’s activities at the start of the seminar
Contact
Laboratory of Forest Landscape Planning and Design, Department of Forest Science,
Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Professor Ryo Kohsaka
E-mail: kohsaka.lab<at>gmail.com (Please replace "<at>" with "@")