Finally, Forest Therapy has come to Japan – courtesy of INFTA and the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. As a special incentive for the Public celebrating its 100th anniversary, INFTA offered the world’s first Forest Therapy Guide training at the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. This exclusive international workshop was held 12-16 June 2024 with participants from Australia, China, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Spain and Vietnam. While it was possible for Japanese to obtain a Shinrin-yoku guide certificate through some short courses offered online, a full-fledged, six-months mentored and supervised training to become qualified as INFTA-Certified and Accredited Forest Therapy Guides based on the International Core Curriculum of Forest Therapy was not available … until now!

The exclusive training workshop attracted a lot of attention and, most definitely, will set new standards in Forest Therapy Guide training and recognition of this innovative profession in Japan. The next such training workshops in Japan are already in the pipeline due to the high demand. INFTA appreciates the recognition of its training standards in Japan, endorsed by the management of the Kyoto Botanical Gardens. INFTA expresses its gratitude for the outstanding support during the training workshop by Director Dr. Hiroshi Tobe and Deputy Director, Mr. Masanori Kobayashi.