Passing Down Founder Hiroshi Yagyu's Legacy. 'Yatsugatake Club Forest' Certified by the State After 36 Years of Cultivation, Launching New Initiatives.
The 'Yatsugatake Club Forest', nurtured for 36 years by the late Hiroshi Yagyu, was certified as a 'Nature Coexistence Site' by the Ministry of the Environment. New tours and a forest hut will open this spring.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 23, 2026 at 19:53
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 13:02 (1h 30m after Collected)
Aiming for a beautiful forest overflowing with life and sunlight filtering through the trees, the late Hiroshi Yagyu and the late Shingo Yagyu continued to build the forest.
"Yatsugatake Club" (operated by Yatsugatake Planning Co., Ltd. / Representative: Sosuke Yagyu), which operates a cafe, restaurant, and gallery shop in a forest at an altitude of 1,360m at the southern foot of Mt. Yatsugatake in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, was certified as a "Nature Coexistence Site" by the Ministry of the Environment and other entities in December 2025. This spring, following the certification, we will fully launch new initiatives as the "Yatsugatake Club Forest."
■ The value of a highly biodiverse forest, nurtured over many years by founder Hiroshi Yagyu and his colleagues, has been officially recognized by the country as a "Nature Coexistence Site."
In December 2025, the Yatsugatake Club Forest was certified as a "Nature Coexistence Site" promoted by the Ministry of the Environment and others—a system that certifies areas where biodiversity conservation is being achieved through private sector initiatives. In the second certification period of Reiwa 7 (2025), it is the only certified area in Yamanashi Prefecture.
About 40 years ago, Hiroshi Yagyu working hard to create the forest
At the Yatsugatake Club, the founder, late actor Hiroshi Yagyu, started by planting trees one by one in an artificial larch forest in the 1980s, and has engaged in coexistence with nature for 36 years.
His son, the late Shingo Yagyu, who served as a caster for NHK's "Shumi no Engei" (Hobby Gardening), also continued to nurture this forest with his father while listening to the voices of plants and living creatures.
Although both have passed away, the surviving family and staff have carefully continued to tend the forest, and it is now a "forest enriched by human hands" where a wide variety of wild grasses bloom and many wild birds and insects thrive.
This certification is an official national recognition of the value of biodiversity nurtured by the long years of wisdom and effort of the founding family and their colleagues. Taking this certification as a new starting point, we will fulfill our role as a place to broadly convey the importance of biodiverse forests to the public, while giving back through our cafe, restaurant, shop, and forest tours.
Words often spoken by Hiroshi Yagyu during his lifetime: "A certain future lies within nostalgic scenery."
With those words in our hearts, we continue to live with and protect the forest every day.
■ New Things Starting This Spring
1. Nature Coexistence Site "Yatsugatake Club Forest" Tour
Scenes from the "Yatsugatake Club Forest" Tour
Taking the opportunity of the certification, we will start a new tour where you can experience the origin and value of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest."
During the tour, Yatsugatake Club staff will guide you through the forest, discussing topics such as "What is a Nature Coexistence Site?" and "What is biodiversity?", as well as the history of the Yatsugatake forest, founder Hiroshi Yagyu's feelings and efforts towards the forest, and the activities currently being advanced by the "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters." It is a program where you can feel the story of a forest restored over 36 years with all five senses.
Schedule: May 9 - December 13, every Saturday and Sunday from 14:00, approx. 40 minutes
How to participate: Please donate 1,000 yen per person to the donation box at the gallery shop on the day, receive a participation sticker, and join. No reservation is required. Capacity limits apply.
2. Opening of the Forest Hut "Ryuan"
Forest Hut "Ryuan"
As a base to tell the story of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest," we are opening a small hut in the forest named "Ryuan," taking the character "Ryu" (Willow) from founder Hiroshi Yagyu's name.
At Ryuan, in addition to screening VTR footage of founders Hiroshi and Shingo Yagyu talking about the "Yatsugatake Club Forest" on a TV monitor, we will install explanation panels regarding the "Nature Coexistence Site" and the "Yatsugatake Club Forest." You can look back on 36 years of history through exhibitions of valuable photos from the forest's genesis, records of forest creation, and photos of living creatures across the four seasons.
In addition, we will display the names of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters" (*) to express our gratitude to the friends who protect the forest together. The Ryuan terrace also features a space where you can freely read books related to the Yatsugatake Club.
In the future, we are preparing for visitors to enjoy an audio guide of the Yatsugatake Club Forest recorded by Hiroshi Yagyu while he was alive.
*What are "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters"?
Launched on the occasion of our 35th anniversary, this is a supporter system to protect the Yatsugatake Club Forest. It is a mechanism where not only staff but everyone who loves the Yatsugatake Club Forest can become supporters and protect the forest together.
3. The activities of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters" are also expanding!
We are expanding the activities of the supporters who have supported the forest through donations, and will now roll out programs where you can directly participate in activities in the forest.
Supporters Details
① Nature Coexistence Site "Yatsugatake Club Forest" Monitoring Survey
Scenes of the monitoring survey
In conjunction with the certification as a Nature Coexistence Site, we will conduct monitoring activities to regularly survey the flora and fauna of the forest. Targeting birds and plants, we will...
"Yatsugatake Club" (operated by Yatsugatake Planning Co., Ltd. / Representative: Sosuke Yagyu), which operates a cafe, restaurant, and gallery shop in a forest at an altitude of 1,360m at the southern foot of Mt. Yatsugatake in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, was certified as a "Nature Coexistence Site" by the Ministry of the Environment and other entities in December 2025. This spring, following the certification, we will fully launch new initiatives as the "Yatsugatake Club Forest."
■ The value of a highly biodiverse forest, nurtured over many years by founder Hiroshi Yagyu and his colleagues, has been officially recognized by the country as a "Nature Coexistence Site."
In December 2025, the Yatsugatake Club Forest was certified as a "Nature Coexistence Site" promoted by the Ministry of the Environment and others—a system that certifies areas where biodiversity conservation is being achieved through private sector initiatives. In the second certification period of Reiwa 7 (2025), it is the only certified area in Yamanashi Prefecture.
About 40 years ago, Hiroshi Yagyu working hard to create the forest
At the Yatsugatake Club, the founder, late actor Hiroshi Yagyu, started by planting trees one by one in an artificial larch forest in the 1980s, and has engaged in coexistence with nature for 36 years.
His son, the late Shingo Yagyu, who served as a caster for NHK's "Shumi no Engei" (Hobby Gardening), also continued to nurture this forest with his father while listening to the voices of plants and living creatures.
Although both have passed away, the surviving family and staff have carefully continued to tend the forest, and it is now a "forest enriched by human hands" where a wide variety of wild grasses bloom and many wild birds and insects thrive.
This certification is an official national recognition of the value of biodiversity nurtured by the long years of wisdom and effort of the founding family and their colleagues. Taking this certification as a new starting point, we will fulfill our role as a place to broadly convey the importance of biodiverse forests to the public, while giving back through our cafe, restaurant, shop, and forest tours.
Words often spoken by Hiroshi Yagyu during his lifetime: "A certain future lies within nostalgic scenery."
With those words in our hearts, we continue to live with and protect the forest every day.
■ New Things Starting This Spring
1. Nature Coexistence Site "Yatsugatake Club Forest" Tour
Scenes from the "Yatsugatake Club Forest" Tour
Taking the opportunity of the certification, we will start a new tour where you can experience the origin and value of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest."
During the tour, Yatsugatake Club staff will guide you through the forest, discussing topics such as "What is a Nature Coexistence Site?" and "What is biodiversity?", as well as the history of the Yatsugatake forest, founder Hiroshi Yagyu's feelings and efforts towards the forest, and the activities currently being advanced by the "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters." It is a program where you can feel the story of a forest restored over 36 years with all five senses.
Schedule: May 9 - December 13, every Saturday and Sunday from 14:00, approx. 40 minutes
How to participate: Please donate 1,000 yen per person to the donation box at the gallery shop on the day, receive a participation sticker, and join. No reservation is required. Capacity limits apply.
2. Opening of the Forest Hut "Ryuan"
Forest Hut "Ryuan"
As a base to tell the story of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest," we are opening a small hut in the forest named "Ryuan," taking the character "Ryu" (Willow) from founder Hiroshi Yagyu's name.
At Ryuan, in addition to screening VTR footage of founders Hiroshi and Shingo Yagyu talking about the "Yatsugatake Club Forest" on a TV monitor, we will install explanation panels regarding the "Nature Coexistence Site" and the "Yatsugatake Club Forest." You can look back on 36 years of history through exhibitions of valuable photos from the forest's genesis, records of forest creation, and photos of living creatures across the four seasons.
In addition, we will display the names of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters" (*) to express our gratitude to the friends who protect the forest together. The Ryuan terrace also features a space where you can freely read books related to the Yatsugatake Club.
In the future, we are preparing for visitors to enjoy an audio guide of the Yatsugatake Club Forest recorded by Hiroshi Yagyu while he was alive.
*What are "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters"?
Launched on the occasion of our 35th anniversary, this is a supporter system to protect the Yatsugatake Club Forest. It is a mechanism where not only staff but everyone who loves the Yatsugatake Club Forest can become supporters and protect the forest together.
3. The activities of the "Yatsugatake Club Forest Supporters" are also expanding!
We are expanding the activities of the supporters who have supported the forest through donations, and will now roll out programs where you can directly participate in activities in the forest.
Supporters Details
① Nature Coexistence Site "Yatsugatake Club Forest" Monitoring Survey
Scenes of the monitoring survey
In conjunction with the certification as a Nature Coexistence Site, we will conduct monitoring activities to regularly survey the flora and fauna of the forest. Targeting birds and plants, we will...