%0 Research article
%T Physiological effects of forest recreation in a young conifer forest in Hinokage Town, Japan
%A Park, Bum-Jin
%A Tsunetsugu, Yuko
%A Kasetani, Tamami
%A Morikawa, Takeshi
%A Kagawa, Takahide
%A Miyazaki, Yoshifumi
%D 2009
%J Silva Fennica
%V 43
%N 2
%R doi:10.14214/sf.213
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/213
%X It is widely believed that coming into contact with forest environments  is somehow beneficial to human well-being and comfort. In Japan,  “Shinrin-yoku” (taking in the atmosphere of a forest) has been proposed  to be a relaxation activity associated with forest recreation. The  purpose of this study was to examine the physiological effects of forest  recreation on the autonomic nervous activity. The subjects were twelve  male university students (21.8 ± 0.8 years old). On the first day of the  experiment, six subjects were sent to a forest area, and the other six  to a city area. On the second day, each subject was sent to the area he  did not visit on the first day as a cross check. The subjects walked (15  minutes) around their assigned areas before noon, and sat on chairs  viewing (15 minutes) the landscapes of their assigned areas in the  afternoon. Heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure, and pulse rate  were measured as physiological indices. Measurements were taken at the  place of accommodation in the morning, before and after walking, and  before and after viewing at their assigned field areas. Pulse rate,  diastolic blood pressure and LF/(LF+HF) (LF – low frequency, HF – high  frequency) components of HRV were significantly lower in the forest area  than in the city area. HF components of HRV tended to be higher in the  forest than in the city. In conclusion, the results of the physiological  measurements show that forest recreation enabled effective relaxation  in people, both of the mind and body.