The forest that spreads around a shrine is called chinju no mori, the shrine's guardian forest. Sometimes one remains in the middle of rice fields, like a rounded green island.
What small forests have protected
A chinju no mori is the forest surrounding a shrine's approach and buildings. Because these forests have been left uncut for hundreds of years, they are home to the trees that would naturally grow in that land, as well as rare mosses and slime molds. Some living things would simply disappear if the trees were cut.
In the Meiji era, a policy of merging shrines (jinja goshi) caused many shrine forests to be lost. The naturalist Minakata Kumagusu, alarmed by this, called for the protection of nature. He was the first person in Japan to use the word "ecology," and argued from an ecological standpoint that the forests should be protected.
Restoring the land's original forest
The plant ecologist Akira Miyawaki spread a method of creating forests with the trees that naturally grow in each place, and planted tens of millions of trees in Japan and abroad. Miyawaki described the chinju no mori as a foundation of life for the Japanese to survive, and the mother of their culture.
Just having a forest settles you
Walking in a forest can calm the mind. Research has also reported that spending time in green places eases stress. A chinju no mori is a place of prayer, and at the same time a piece of nature that remains close at hand within the town.
I paint in Yamagata. I think the greens and the colors of water in this land are something I receive from places like these shrine forests. Because there are forests rooted in the land, there are colors that belong to that land.
In Mermaid nao's commissioned art, I sometimes include in a painting the greens and light of a place connected to you.
Sources
Wikipedia (Chinju no mori)
Japan Travel and Tourism Association (Village coppices and shrine forests)
AEON Environmental Foundation midoripress (Chinju no mori / Akira Miyawaki)
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