午夜剧场

In "Japan Will Be Revived by Its Forests," I explain everything from forestry to timber and traditional wooden structures. Both this book and my previous work, "The Collapse of Forests," were said to have too much information and underwent significant cuts. Because I felt the content needed to be shared with a wide audience, only a few pages are dedicated to my own research. Most of what I wrote consists of things I happened to discover while conducting research and development. Even the publication of my previous book was an accident. I was merely a reader of an international information magazine published by Shinchosha, and I sent in a document simply intending to comment as a researcher on an article that felt off to me. I never imagined it would become part of a manuscript for a book sold in bookstores.

I never expected that I, an engineering specialist, would write a paperback. At the time, I don't think I could have finished the manuscript if I hadn't happened to be a Postdoctoral Fellow (PD) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. After writing my previous book, "The Collapse of Forests," I thought I would never write again. This was because I believed everything was moving in a better direction, and that was my hope. However, reality did not turn out that way.

The motivation for writing this book, "Japan Will Be Revived by Its Forests," was the enthusiasm of an official in charge of regulatory reform at the Cabinet Office, which made me want to give it my all. While serving as a specialist member for regulatory reform, I involved practitioners I knew and devoted myself to explaining what was happening and why. It was almost entirely volunteer work. The official responded with sincerity to my meddling. Having done a lot of behind-the-scenes work for Kasumigaseki during my time at Nomura Research Institute, I also felt how quickly time passes.

Surprisingly, my previous book was first read by organizational leaders and businessmen involved in management, and I heard it was displayed in stacks at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This book seems to follow the same trend and is reportedly selling well at the bookstore inside the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Now that I have finally released the book and feel I have fulfilled a bit of my duty toward social contribution, I would like to focus on my research again. Researchers can devise and create things through their own expertise. There is no profession as interesting as solving difficult and incomprehensible phenomena. Right after releasing my previous book, I went to France to focus on research. Now that I have finished another job, I want to enjoy my life as a researcher once more.

Yuko Shirai

Shincho Shinsho

192 pages, 792 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.