"When these sugi (杉, cedars) were umareta (生まれた, born), if that's the word," says Mayumi, "Japan was in its Jōmon Jidai (縄文時代, Jomon Period, c. 10,000 B.C.-c. 300 B.C.). Before bunmei (文明, civilization), before nōgyō (農業, agriculture), before sensō (戦争, war) — before almost everything we think of as human."

"I'm so glad I came," says Reiko, flushed and slightly out of breath. The two women have been hiking for hours through a forest almost thick enough to be called a jungle.

"There's something about an ancient forest that fukkatsu saseru (復活させる, brings a person back to life)."