For a country not know for affordability, trees are cheap to come by in Japan.
The collapse of the timber market is a huge problem here. Between 30 and 50 years ago, back when lumber was still used in construction (its mainly steel/concrete now) there was a major government led intensive to plant cedar and cypress (though, it was about 90% cedar). When the market fell out in the 80s, nobody thought much of it at first other than the lumberjacks. The countryside was emptying anyways, so all those trees planted on abandoned farm plots and in the surrounding mountains didn't really matter.
But things change. First, those trees create acidic soil, and do havoc to the farm-ready areas if they ever do get cut out and if the land is to ever be re-purposed back to farming, orchards, or growing just about anything other than weeds, tomatoes and blueberries. Next, the mono-culture of the trees -entire mountain ranges of them- screws up animal populations. The deer, boar, bears and packs of monkeys need to source food elsewhere, often either wrecking the remaining non-cedar forests or they are driven to where people live and attack crops and humans.
Cutting the trees is often ridiculous as not only are there so many and no market for them, but they are planted on steep slopes with no access roads, requiring wire rigging systems and highly skilled/licensed woodsmen at not very good pay. It costs almost as much to extract a tree as its worth in cut lumber, sometimes more. Understandably, the hardware stores are filled with imported lumber, as its cheaper to have it cut, processed, shipped across the Pacific from BC or New Zealand, and pay import duty on it, than to cut and process a tree from a few miles up the valley.
Most people in cities tune out to these woes, but one thing has come to haunt them: Pollen. Every year, from February to April, great green waves of pollen blow across Japan, inundating every breathing space in the country. No city is shielded. And over time, people have developed allergies to this pollen. Imagine an intense hay-fever thats 2 months long. Swollen watery eyes, runny nose, trouble breathing. Drugs work sometimes, but they're never fully effective if at all. About a third of the urban population suffers from this (and rising), causing them all to wear special pollen-proof surgical masks when heading to and from the office in business suits for their commute. Those in rural areas somehow suffer much less.
As for me, I'm surrounded by mountains of the stuff. I can have what I want free for personal use, just need to ask the owner of the land if its alive and full-ish growth. Maybe drink some sake with him. Standing dead ones and smaller living trees (12-inch diameter) are essentially free without asking. I've gotten into milling recently, as I might as well put it to a use other than burning it. Because even though its soft, I have enough firewood to last lifetimes within a couple hundred yards of my place.
