On Saturday, May 11, 2019, the 22nd TOKYU HOTELS Green Coin Forest volunteer activity was held in Tanbayama Village, Yamanashi Prefecture, with 60 hotel and head office employees participating, the largest number to date. The highlight of this volunteer activity was for participants to thin out trees to be used as raw materials for making SDG badges for employees to wear!

Before thinning, one of the most important tasks is to build a wooden fence and secure a road for forest maintenance. It was very hard work, but thanks to the guidance of the local forestry workers, we were able to complete a wooden fence of about 30 meters.

After working up a sweat, it was time for lunch, which was a much-anticipated event. The local women's association cooked meals using local ingredients and are always a big hit. This time, venison hotpot was served as a special dish.

In the afternoon, we finally started thinning the trees. President Kobayashi thinned out the wood that will become the raw material for the badges. After felling the trees, we pruned the branches and cut them into logs of equal length. We are looking forward to seeing them become badges.

In addition, we planted potatoes, a local specialty, in abandoned farmland, harvested wild lettuce, and had children try cutting them into balls. Finally, we ended our volunteer work by washing off the sweat in the traditional Nomekoi-yu hot spring.