Shuichi Abe,
Governor of
Nagano Prefecture

I am very pleased to welcome visitors and exhibitors of the memorable 1st International Wood Fair being held here in Nagano Prefecture, where forestry machinery, biomass equipment and other technologies indispensable to the progress of the forest industry will be gathered from inside and outside Japan.
Through various nationwide events such as the 67th Japan Tree Planting Festival in June 2016 and the Inaugural National Ceremony for Mountain Day in August of the same year, Nagano has been working to extensively communicate its "culture of wood and forest" grown by rich forests and towering mountains in this region. This time, the upcoming new event will provide meaningful opportunities for exhibitors as well, since it involves not only the presentation and demonstration of forestry machinery, but also seminars and symposiums to share information on the latest technologies and trends in the forestry and related industries.
Nagano is a densely wooded prefecture endowed with abundant timber resources, with about 80% of its land covered by forests.
To develop our homeland from a forested prefecture into a prefecture that thrives on forestry, we are accelerating our specific efforts for revitalization of our local timber industry. For example, Nagano established a partnership with Austria in fiscal 2013, with the aim of introducing technology from the leading nation in the fields of forestry and biomass.
I strongly hope that the fair will contribute to the advancement of the timber industry in Nagano and across Japan, and sincerely look forward to your participation in the event.