Chizu Town
Saeko Nishimura

The most suitable environment for children to grow up is probably in the forest. Guided by such an intuition, it has been 15 years since she opened Mori-no-Yochien (Forestry Kindergarten).
These efforts have expanded new opportunities for growth and learning in the region involving the town and prefecture.
A total of over 240 parents and children have moved to here for this environment. The voices of children echo in Chizu Forest again today.

The gift from the forest is “the power to enjoy any future.”

The snow still lies on mountains of Chizu. As we climbed the narrow path leading into the forest, we heard cheers of children. The space surrounded by trees that shortly came into view is the day's field of “Sugibokkuri”, the second forest kindergarten in Chizu Town.
A child slides down a slope on a sled, a child plays with throwing snowballs, and a child put in the mouth some snow. Two nursery teachers watch over the constantly active children with perfect distance. How fun and beautiful time is the nature of Chizu, the children, and the adults who gently lend their hands to them play together as if it is music.
Saeko Nishimura, who was born in Tokyo, established “Marutanbou”, the first forest kindergarten in the Chugoku-Shikoku-Kyushu region, along with Kyoko Kumatani (currently the director of “Sugibokkuri”), who was a fellow mom in the town was in 2009. Their motivation was very simple: “We wanted to create the ideal environment for raising children.”
“They have good footwork, and they look for ways to do things instead of reasons why they can't do something. Now I am here because of the support from everyone at Chizu.”
As a result of the practice of “Marutanbou” was launched in the way, Tottori Prefecture created the first forest kindergarten support system in the country. Saeko and her colleagues established the Sudbury School and a share house where people wishing to move to temporarily and have invited many parents and children to Chizu Forest.
I asked Saeko again. What kind of power do you feel in “raising children in nature” right now?
“When I had my first child, it reminded me that I live in an age where technology continues to develop at a furious speed. I felt anxious about how I should raise my children in such an unpredictable world, where common sense today will become outdated in a few years. However, when I watched my children in nature, I realized that they encounter and face unpredictable things every day and find their own way of enjoying themselves. It's all right, the children who grew up here will definitely be able to enjoy whatever future they have in their own way...I feel hope now when I see them.”

Interviewed in January, 2024
Writer : Mikiko Tamaki / Photographer : Kenta Sasaki