24/08/2026
Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing,” was introduced by Japan’s Forestry Agency in 1982, during a period of growing concern about workplace stress and the increasingly urban, technology-driven lifestyle of postwar Japan.
The idea was simple: spend quiet, unhurried time in a forest and take in the environment through the senses. At first, the supposed health benefits were based more on intuition than strong medical evidence.
Beginning in the 1990s and especially the 2000s, Japanese researchers began testing those claims scientifically. Chinese-born physician and researcher Qing Li became one of the field’s leading figures.
His work examined phytoncides, natural airborne compounds released by trees, and found associations between forest visits, lower stress hormones and increased activity of white blood cells, which help the immune system respond to infected and abnormal cells.
The research eventually developed into what Li and others call “forest medicine.” Larger Japanese experiments compared people walking or sitting in forests with those doing the same activities in cities.
A study across 24 Japanese forests involving 280 participants found forest environments were associated with lower cortisol, pulse rate and blood pressure and greater parasympathetic nervous activity.
