Reconnecting Cities and Forests: Launch of Domestic Timber 'Supply Chain Construction Service'

Space & Place Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo; Representative Director: Mitsuki Toda; hereinafter 'Space & Place') announces the launch of its 'Supply Chain Construction Service' for domestic timber.

Recently, discussions about reconnecting cities with forests have emerged in various forms and contexts.

What Space & Place offers is a 'Supply Chain Construction Service' that designs procurement routes for domestic timber. By leveraging corporate procurement—the core of business operations—we actively and proactively regenerate forest ecosystems and local livelihoods. This methodology is called the 'Regenerative Approach'.

We believe that a company’s choice of 'where to source wood' can sustain upstream industries such as processing, sawmilling, and forestry, and ultimately restore the ecological functions of satoyama (traditional rural landscapes) and forests.

Based on this conviction, we have launched our domestic timber supply chain construction service.

Overview diagram of the regenerative approach for reconnection

Overview of the Regenerative Approach

◆ Background | The Dual Loss Caused by the Urban-Forest Divide

Domestic timber self-sufficiency exceeds 40%, suggesting Japan’s forestry sector is recovering. However, behind this trend, satoyama timber and its surrounding industries have been left behind.

Post-war afforestation, timber import liberalization, and rapid economic growth severed the supply chains connecting forests and cities. Forestry employment has declined from approximately 500,000 (1955 census) to about 44,000 (2020 census). Sawmills have decreased from around 18,000 to approximately 3,800 (2022 Forestry Agency statistics). Unmanaged plantations now cover about 10% of Japan’s land (※1), and 3,772 species (※2) face extinction. The 'natural and environmental capital' and 'industrial and technical capital' cultivated by satoyama landscapes are simultaneously eroding.

(※1 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: Survey on Public Awareness of Sustainable Forest Resource Use) (※2 Ministry of the Environment Red List 2020)

◆ Biodiversity Conservation Was Rooted in 'Satoyama Lifestyles'

Many areas with high concentrations of endangered species are not pristine wilderness but satoyama regions. For example, 69% of medaka habitats and 58% of Yamato-shijimi butterfly habitats are located in satoyama. Even non-endangered familiar species like the Japanese common toad (62%), stag beetle (53%), and Eastern buzzard (65%) are predominantly found in these areas (※3).

In the past, daily life in satoyama itself preserved biodiversity. Before fossil fuels, people used broadleaf trees like konara and kunugi as firewood, regularly cutting trees to prevent forest overgrowth and allowing sunlight to reach the forest floor—creating habitats for species like the Yamato-shijimi and Japanese emperor moth. Cultivating paper mulberry (kozo) and oriental paperbush (mitsumata) for washi paper stabilized vegetation in shaded and riparian zones, supporting fireflies like Genji-botaru. Regular thatching and grass-cutting maintained open grasslands, enabling raptors like the Eastern buzzard and mountain hawk-eagle to hunt and breed.

The decline of satoyama industries due to the urban-forest divide directly threatens these species’ survival.

Representative satoyama broadleaf trees: Konara and Kunugi

We cannot simply revive traditional satoyama lifestyles today. Space & Place’s 'Regenerative Approach' reimagines the functions once fulfilled by satoyama communities and integrates them into modern urban society.

Our service challenges whether we can achieve 'reconnection' between cities and forests through procurement, and thereby implement sustainable, regenerative cycles of forests and satoyama into society.

(※3 Ministry of the Environment: Interim Report on the Survey and Analysis of Japan’s Satoyama)

Overview of the Supply Chain Construction Service

A key feature of this service is that Space & Place does not participate in commercial transactions. Instead, we design and construct domestic timber supply chains tailored to each project and deliver the framework to clients.

By connecting stakeholders—from forests and forestry, through sawmilling and processing, to urban clients and designers—with optimal, transparent supply chains, we achieve the primary client benefit: 'cost optimization'.

Diagram of the supply chain construction service

In traditional business models, the party consulted for timber sourcing becomes the seller, creating a structural constraint: 'you must buy from whom you consult'. However, due to recent price surges, intermediary-heavy models are becoming unsustainable. Despite growing demand for domestic timber, upstream processors and foresters still face the dilemma of 'high effort, low profit'.

By stepping outside this structure and focusing solely on supply route design, we address both urban-side cost challenges and upstream revenue issues. Yet, we acknowledge that the historical need for intermediary functions stems from real gaps in skills and perspectives between urban and forest communities.

We bridge these gaps by providing comprehensive support—from design coordination with architects, detailed furniture specifications, moisture content and drying management, various wood processing techniques, scheduling, budget control, and value engineering—to ensure quality from start to finish, integrating both 'forest-side' and 'urban-side' perspectives.

Through this effort, we aim to cultivate professionals on both sides who possess the skills to connect urban and forest communities.

This is another long-term goal of our service.

◆ Benefits Delivered by This Service

The primary benefit for clients is 'cost optimization'. By avoiding commercial intermediaries, we eliminate traditional markups and enable fair-cost procurement of domestic timber.

Beyond cost optimization, we offer two complementary benefit services to advance corporate domestic timber procurement on dual tracks. To sustainably source and valorize domestic timber, companies need both a shared 'narrative' and verifiable 'ethical sourcing'.

◆ Two Benefits Generated by an Optimal Supply Chain

STORY Service | The Story That Builds Community

We build teams—from upstream foresters to downstream clients—that share a common narrative.

By exploring regional characteristics across Japan and engaging in deep dialogue with local players and stakeholders, we co-create meaningful project stories with our clients.

We also offer in-house photo and video production for internal and external communication, enabling clients to reduce total costs when bundled.

We provide end-to-end support—from site visits and relationship building to story development and documentation.

Due Diligence Service | Ethical Timber Procurement

Our basic service establishes traceability from origin to site and supports documentation for compliance with the Clean Wood Act (Japan’s law promoting legal timber trade), ESG, and TNFD. Additionally, we support corporate 'wood