Together with society and local communities

Tosa Tsumura Forest

One of our main crude drug cultivation areas in Japan is the town of Ochi in Kochi Prefecture, and we have a 30-year relationship with the local crude drug producer Human Life Tosa. Here, Tsumura is engaged in a joint forest project, called Tosa Tsumura Forest, with Kochi Prefecture, Ochi Town, and Human Life Tosa. The four-partner program was started in 2008 for the purpose of protecting the natural environment and revitalizing the region housing the cultivation area. This project has contributed to combating global warming through forest maintenance, effecting absorption of 1,442 t-CO2 emissions in total since 2008. Our business is made possible by harnessing the healthy natural environment in which medicinal plants grow and receiving cooperation from crude drug producers. We will continue the Tosa Tsumura Forest project with a view toward conservation of the natural environment and regional development.

Exchange activities

At Ochi Junior High School, students learn about the local industries and natural environment as part of the integrated study curriculum. At Tosa Tsumura Forest, we contribute to systematic learning of these subjects through on-site classes conducted by Human Life Tosa and Tsumura and offering students opportunities to explore the forest to search for common species of medicinal plants growing in the wild, and harvest and process the medicinal plants to use as crude drugs. Since 2008, more than 1,000 students have participated in these learning activities at Tosa Tsumura Forest. Through this project, we will continue to contribute to youth education as a way to support a sustainable society.

• 

• 

Exchange program at Ochi Junior High School in FY2023

• Tsumura employee giving lessons at school (first-year students)
  Learning about the local industries and rich natural environment of Ochi Town
• Harvesting medicinal plants (first-year and third-year students)
  Becoming aware of the rich forest ecosystem while exploring Tosa Tsumura Forest and locating native-grown medicinal plants
• Harvesting Bupleurum stenophyllum (first-year students)
  Harvesting and processing Bupleurum stenophyllum, a medicinal plant used as a crude drug
• Presentation within the exchange program (first-year students)
  Students delivering a presentation online to report what they learned at Tosa Tsumura Forest

In March 2023, prior to the project to enter the sixth period in the 16th year since its initiation, a signing ceremony was held at the Kochi Prefecture government office to renew the agreement. Also, making use of this opportunity, we donated 350 outdoor work uniforms to the Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden in cooperation with mont-bell Co., Ltd.

• 

  Signing ceremony (March 2023)

  Yasuyuki Koda, Mayor of Ochi Town
  Kei Sugii, Co-COO of Tsumura
  Seiji Hamada, Governor of Kochi Prefecture
  Masahiko Takahashi, representative of Human Life Tosa

• 

  Donating uniforms to the Makino Botanical Garden

  Shiro Takeyama, Managing Director of mont-bell Co., Ltd.
  Nobuo Kawahara, President of the Makino Botanical Garden
  Kei Sugii, Co-COO of Tsumura