Makinuko Sugishita

Kaleido Forest Co., Ltd. Representative Director
Representative Director of Regenerative Leadership General Incorporated Association
Forest Therapist/International Forest Therapy Guide & Trainer (ANFT)
Yakushima Town Board of Education ESD Global Advisor
Director of Yakushima Onoma Clinic

For over 20 years, he has worked as a global health expert in Africa and Asia. While working on projects that connect people and countries, he has confronted the question, "What is human health?" As a JICA project leader, he has been involved in regional health policy in Kenya, and has practiced collaborations that are deeply rooted in the local community.

In 2020, he moved to Yakushima with his family. Living on this island, where he coexists with the island's abundant nature, he shifted his focus from "my health" to "our health, the Earth." By reconnecting people with nature in the forests of Yakushima,Recovering our sense of "living" as part of natureAs an approach, we have launched our original "deep forest bathing®" program.
We offer a deep process in the forest that gently reconnects areas that tend to be separated, such as science and sensibility, body and mind, individual and society, and allows you to return to your true self in the silence.

He is the first Japanese person to be certified as an official forest therapy guide and trainer by the American ANFT (International Association of Natural Forest Therapy), and is working to promote forest wellness and train guides both domestically and internationally.
Additionally, as the representative director of the general incorporated association Regenerative Leadership, he is committed to building organizations and developing human resources that utilize the wisdom of nature, and as an ESD global advisor for the Yakushima Town Board of Education, he is also developing learning opportunities that connect future generations with nature.

On Yakushima, a small piece of Earth itself, I am living out a new life mission centered around nature, education, and regeneration.
"Surrender yourself to the tranquility of the forest and regain your sense of life."
Kaleido Forest will guide you on this journey of reconnection and regeneration.

[Related qualifications]

- Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs (ANFT)
- Forest Therapist®, Japan NPO Forest Therapy Society
- Forest Therapy/Forest Bathing Instructor, International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine (INFOM)
- 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Instructor
- Wilderness Advanced First Aid: WAFA

[Education]
Graduated from Kansai University (Faculty of Law, International Law)
Master's degree in Social and Economic Development from the University of Pittsburgh, USA
Master's degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, USA