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Article: Land of the pampered plantation. (forestry in Japan)(World Forests)
- Article from:
- American Forests
- Article date:
- January 1, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 American Forests. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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TP0056
Halfway up a hillside in the Shirakami Mountains, a logger wearing a canary-yellow hardhat and kneehigh split-toed boots withdraws a machete from a cherry-bark sheath slung on his belt. After hacking the stiff grasses around a two-foot-diameter cedar, he ceremonially strips the bark on the backside of the trunk, sings out a melodious warning, and cranks a chainsaw. He makes a cut deep enough to steady the saw, then backs off. Standing two feet away from the trunk, holding remote-control electronic cables in each hand, he guides the saw through its cut without danger of contracting "shaking disease." When the tree starts to move, the timber faller shuts down ...