The forest fire in Iwate Prefecture caused great damage. Since it started on February 19, it has been getting bigger and bigger, with no end in sight, as fires have started again just when it seemed to have been put out. In Iwate Prefecture, forest fires caused by outdoor burning are occurring frequently. It is said that forest fires are especially likely to occur on days when the air is dry and windy.
As is well known, Japan is a disaster-prone country. Disasters caused by earthquakes and heavy rain occur almost every year. Moreover, they have become more severe in recent years, and the scale of damage has also increased. Earthquakes and heavy rain are natural phenomena, and there are some aspects that humans cannot do anything about. However, forest fires should be reduced to some extent if humans are careful.
Sixty percent of Japan’s land area is forested. It can be said that Japan is a country surrounded by mountains. Therefore, it is important to know how to deal with mountains.
In recent years, landslides caused by heavy rain have also been increasing. There have been cases where mountains collapse and the scale of flood damage increases. And there are forest fires like this one.
Japan is surrounded by mountains, and disasters that originate from mountains are common.

Mountains that have lost trees due to clear-cutting and other practices are also on the rise. The healing powers that these mountains originally had are weakening, and they are no longer able to withstand earthquakes and heavy rains.

This is also leading to the intensification of disasters.

How do we regenerate the mountains? And how do we create cities that are less susceptible to the effects of mountains? These are major issues for Japan.

I think it would be good to have the idea of ​​returning the mountains to nature, and to encourage people to live away from the mountains by creating compact cities.

If the mountains are returned to nature and people move away from them, the mountains will gradually recover. Even if a landslide or mudslide occurs, the damage will be minimized if no one lives nearby.

Since the modern era, Japan has promoted land development. However, we are now in an era of population decline. It may be time to return the developed land to nature. (Kei Kitajima )

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