Shinrin-Yoku and The Forest-Spirit Way

A Reflection on Forest Medicine, Wayfaring, and Beyond

INTRODUCTION

Shinrin-yoku is a Japanese term first coined in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, the then Director General of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. The Japanese characters, or kanji, that form the word shinrin-yoku literally mean “forest bath”. The term does not mean to take a literal bath in a forest. Instead, shinrin-yoku is a modern, poetic way of referring to a practice developed in contemporary times of immersing oneself, fully, in the atmosphere of the forest for purposes of mental and physical well-being. This sense of “bathing in the forest atmosphere” is a signature phrase of the shinrin-yoku and forest medicine movement. With a few notable exceptions,“forest bathing” (as a contemporary evolution) involves a brief experience in the forest, with an emphasis on the five senses and the various health benefits to the participant (e.g. stress-reduction).

In this essay, I want to briefly discuss shinrin-yoku and some of the scientific findings of forest…