**2.1 Act on modernization of rights for common forest**

In 1966, the Act on Advancement of Modernization of Rights in Relation to Forests Subject to Rights of Common (Act No. 126 of 1966) was enacted. The main contents of the Act are as

During the Meiji Period, the property rights system was introduced to law in Japan, and how the common forest was organized and managed needed to change to fit into this system. This problem was extremely difficult from the beginning of land reform4. This is discussed further in this chapter. However, due to space constraints, only the most important points are explained. The most important right pertaining to the common forest was that people living in a specific area had a conventional right. It must be paid attention to that the right is based on the convention, which is, in most cases, originated from the Edo Period. According to Articles 263 and 294 of the Civil Law of 1896 (Act No. 89), any common

Common forests with no property rights in modern law gradually decreased in Japan after the Meiji Period. During the early Meiji Period, part of common forest was considered national forest land. In 1889, the concept of the municipality was introduced, and part of common forest became the property of newly founded municipalities. In 1910, the Public Forest Reorganization and Unification Project started and continued until 1939. Under the policy program, the common forest was considered municipal property. However, some people with rights to the common forest took various countermeasures to protect their rights, in some cases, registering the area under his/her name or that of other members, or as a shrine or temple. The management of conventional rights to common forests in the modern legal system has proved challenging. Regardless of whether the land was registered as national, municipal, or private property, rights for common forest may still exist. In such an instance, the important legal point would be the historical fact regarding conventional

After World War II, the common forest faced another economic problem. In 1964, the Forestry Basic Act (Act No. 161 of 1964) was enforced. According to Article 2 of the Act, the main objectives of forestry policy are to increase timber production, timber productivity, and the income of forestry workers. Under the Act, the Forestry Agency strongly promoted the change in species composition throughout Japan, from broad-leaved trees or natural forests to planted forests of coniferous trees such as *Cryptomeria japonica* and *Chamaecyparis obtusa* in the 1960s and 1970s. As the main species of the common forest were broad-leaved

In 1966, a new act related to the common forest was enacted, and many forest producer cooperatives, which are called *Seisan Shinrin Kumiai*, were established and started forest management practices. This type of cooperative organization is the main topic of this article. In section 2, the contents of the act of 1966, the policy programs under the act, the founding of forest producer cooperatives, and the current management problems of these cooperatives is explained. Their management is now facing extreme difficulties, and some of the cooperatives have undergone liquidation or soon will do so. However, this has sparked a new movement among some cooperatives. In section 3, three such cooperatives (located in Hyogo, Mie, and Fukui Prefectures) are described, including a brief summary of each cooperative, the major problems they are now facing, and the new movement they are involved in. Section 4 discusses the differences and similarities among these three examples,

In 1966, the Act on Advancement of Modernization of Rights in Relation to Forests Subject to Rights of Common (Act No. 126 of 1966) was enacted. The main contents of the Act are as

trees, the forest was considered a good site for the change in species composition.

forest rights must first consider the customs of a given area.

forest management, including utilization.

and section 5 presents our conclusions.

**2. Modernization of rights for common forest 2.1 Act on modernization of rights for common forest**  follows. In Article 1, the objective is to increase agriculture and forestry in the common forest5. At the time the Act was enacted, the total area of common forest was estimated to be approximately 2 million ha, which is equal to 13% of the total area of the non-national forest (Iriai Rinya Kindaika Kenkyukai, 1971). Generally, utilization of the common forest was extensive and did not contribute to an increase in income for the residents of mountainous areas, which they obtained from agriculture or forestry. For a long time, broad-leaved trees in the common forest were used as fuel-wood, so the common forest was necessary, but this use of the common forest as an energy source ended in the 1950s and 1960s. Thus, it was important to modernize the rules governing the common forest to promote its utilization. In this Act, modernization meant abolishment of common forest rights, and the granting of property rights6.

Article 3 of the Act ordained the implementation procedures for modernizing the common forest rights. It was necessary for all rights holders to agree with the abolishment of rights. To this end, they had to be convinced of the importance of the common forest as a custom. To plan the modernization of the system, it was also necessary to record the locations and precise areas of each common forest. These two procedures—getting all rights holders to agree on relinquishing their personal common rights, and the measurement of land—were particularly complicated and difficult.

After the abolishment of common rights, new property rights were granted, in two different ways: land was either divided equally among all rights holders, or a cooperative organization was established. Both methods were available, but the Forestry Agency recommended establishing cooperatives such as forest producer cooperatives or agricultural producer cooperatives (*noji kumiai hojin*), because equal division allowed for subdivision of the forest land. Generally, in Japan, the unit size of private forest land is so small that management costs are relatively high. Among the cooperative organizations related to agriculture and forestry, the Forestry Agency strongly recommended forest producer cooperatives, under the Forestry Cooperative Act (Act No. 36 of 1978)7. This cooperative organization was actually introduced in the 1951 Forest Act, and the main objective was not related to the modernization of common forest policy.

The modernization of common forest policy was also affected by Article 12 of the Forestry Basic Act. This article included various policy measures, including the modernization of rights to the common forest, to realize the expansion of small-scale private forest management in Japan. As the area of common forest was generally broader than that of private forest, the transformation from common forest to cooperative organization conformed to the policy direction subject to Article 12 of the Forestry Basic Act. After the 1960s, the planting policy changed to increase coniferous trees to secure future domestic forest resources for industrial round wood; the land owned by the forest producer cooperatives was adapted to this planting policy.
