Shinrin-yoku

The term was coined in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, director of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, as a response to increasing urbanization in Japan. The Japanese government launched studies throughout the 1980s investigating the health benefits of forest immersion, measuring physiological indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol levels, and immune system responses. The practice became an official component of Japanese preventive healthcare and forest conservation policy.