With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics taking place this year, prefectures in the Chubu region are eager to make the sporting event an opportunity to promote their local produce.
In the village of Higashishirakawa, Gifu Prefecture, whose land is 90 percent covered by mountainous forests, numerous Japanese cypress trees are seen growing straight toward the sky alongside a 3-meter-wide unpaved road.
"Don't you think our forestry workers are doing a good job?" says Masahide Osaki, 53, an official of the village's forestry cooperative, pointing at trees that have branches and leaves only near the top.