There are 3 ways of entering into forestry in Japan.

The first one is the way to be engaged in a forestry department of some public organizations. The National Forestry Agency is the best known, and some prefectorial governments also own forests. To be engaged by these organizations, you have to take a public officer's examination. This exam includes technical questions about forestry and general questions on a range of topics. The better way to pass the exam is to be university student. I think there are 15 to 20 universities which have a course on forestry in Japan but there are no colleges which run forestry courses. Of course you have to take an exam to get into university. Some students continue studying forestry at university in a laboratory, and may become professor, but this is rare. If you don't wish to take a lot of exams, you can go to a high school of agricultural studies. It is generally easier to get into a public forest organizations from high school.

The second way of entering into forestry is to be employed by forest operation companies doing wood cutting, processing, limbing and bucking, and planting. To be engaged by these companies, you don't need to take a special exam, but generally it is difficult to find jobs with them because some of them are going bankrupt recently. Just now our economy is in a depression. A few huge companies in the pulp industry in japan also own forests and you could try to get a job with one of these companies.

The last route is to be engaged by a Forest Owner's Association. There are many Forest Owner's Associations throughout Japan. In Japan most of private forest owners put a part of their forest operations out to contract with a forest owner's association. You don't need to take a special exam to be employed by them. Private Forestry Consulting companies are not common in Japan.

Hiroshi Kawanishi e-mail