Kasugayama Primeval Forest | |
Native Name: | 春日山原始林 |
Native Lang: | ja |
Map: | Japan Nara Prefecture#Japan |
Map Alt: | Location in Japan |
Relief: | 1 |
Map Width: | 270px |
Region: | Nara Park, Nara, Nara Prefecture |
Country: | Japan |
Area: | [1] |
is an area of of primeval forest in Nara, Japan, that is protected as a Special Natural Monument and which forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.[2] [3] [4] Located in Nara Park to the east of the grounds of Kasuga Taisha and a Chinju no Mori,[5] hunting and logging on have been prohibited since 841.[6]
In 841, during the reign of Emperor Ninmyō, a prohibition was placed on hunting and logging on the sacred mountain.[2] In 1873, the Dajō-kan issued a proclamation on the establishment of public parks, and in 1880 Nara Park opened.[2] This was extended in 1888 to include the areas of Mount Kasuga and Mount Wakakusa; that same year, some two thousand trees on Mount Kasuga were felled by a typhoon.[2] In 1922, Nara Park was designated a Place of Scenic Beauty under the 1919 Historical Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments Preservation Law.[7] Two years later, Kasugayama Primeval Forest was designated a Natural Monument, a designation upgraded in 1955 to that of Special Natural Monument, under the 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties.[3]