Elite Tree Seedlings (Specified Seedlings) Production Technology

As of 2025, the Company has established a collaborative production system with members of local forest seed cooperatives and new producers in 18 prefectures to produce elite-tree container seedlings. By using its proprietary soil mix and seedling containers, the Company is able to ship these seedlings within one year from the start of production, compared with the usual two to three years.

The Company filed applications in 1st ward (Akita Prefecture), 3rd ward (Shizuoka Prefecture), 4th ward (Tottori Prefecture and northern Hiroshima Prefecture), 5th ward (southern Hiroshima Prefecture), and 6th ward (Kumamoto Prefecture and Oita Prefecture) for certification of its Specified Propagation Project Plans for the propagation of elite trees, including cedar and cypress, under the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Promotion of Forest Thinning, and obtained certification as a Specified Propagation Business Operator(*2) in each prefecture. 

Currently, to secure the seeds and scions required for the production of elite tree seedlings, the Company is developing and expanding seed orchards and scion orchards(*3) in these regions to establish a mass-production system. By operating enclosed seed orchards in which artificial cross-pollination is conducted in greenhouses, the Company can ensure reliable cross-pollination among elite trees. Compared with conventional open-field methods, this allows earlier seed production and higher yields, while ensuring that the seeds inherit the desirable characteristics of elite trees. The Company also plans to gradually plant elite tree seedlings produced in-house on reforestation sites within its company-owned forests. The Company is one of Japan’s largest private forest owners, with approximately 400 company-owned forests nationwide and a total forest area of about 90,000 hectares. In line with the Forestry Agency’s policy goal of raising the proportion of elite trees and other improved varieties in forestry seedlings to 30% by 2030 and over 90% by 2050, the Company is promoting the conversion of its company-owned forests to elite trees. This initiative is expected to contribute to national policy goals and enhance the value of the Company’s forest assets. In addition, the Company will supply elite tree seedlings to national and private forests, thereby promoting the wider adoption of elite trees.

1. elite trees
   Elite trees Refers to a specific mother tree. Specified mother trees are designated by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as particularly outstanding in terms of growth-related characteristics in order to improve the CO2 absorption and fixation capacity of forests under the Special Measures Act for Thinning, etc. The designation criteria refer to those whose growth is more than 1.5 times that of the native line, the pollen content is less than half that of the common Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress, and those with straight trunks without bends.

2. specified breeding company
   Specified Propagation Business Operator Based on the matters related to the implementation method of the Specified Propagation Project stipulated in the Basic Policy of the Special Measures Act on Thinning, etc., it refers to a business that prepares a plan for the propagation of elite trees, etc., which are seeds and seedlings with excellent growth (Specified Propagation Project Plan), and has been certified by the prefectural governor.

3. seed plantation/scion plantation
   Seed plantation/Scion plantation Seed plantation is an arboretum that plants mother trees for the purpose of producing a large amount of seeds and is designed to facilitate seed collection. Seedlings are produced by sowing seeds obtained from seed plantations. Scion plantation is an arboretum in which mother trees are planted for the purpose of obtaining scions for the production of cuttings.