A nature school has been established in Numata Town's Horoshin-no-mori forest!

Numata Town is a town where you can feel the great outdoors, where fireflies burn in the summer and snow falls as much as 170 cm deep in the winter. Numata is also a town that has been actively engaged in activities to make the most of its resources, such as communicating the history of three coal mines that once existed, holding the Yataka Andon Festival, which was handed down from Toyama Prefecture, and utilizing the inexhaustible snowfall in winter to cool public facilities and store rice and vegetables for a long time.

Combining the rich charm of Numata with new ideas, the creation of a "nature school" where children and adults alike can play in the forest all year round is steadily underway.

Just one year ago, Domingo reported on the creation of a nature school in Numata Town.

This is an exciting picture of what we would like to do at the nature school. The idea is steadily progressing, and now some interesting people have come to the Horoshin-no-mori as guests!

The guest at Horoshin-no Mori is Mr. Yusuke Murakami, a polar architect who held a workshop to create and use "DAN DAN DOME. What is the "DAN DAN DOME" and what kind of person is Mr. Murakami, an unusual architect with the unfamiliar title of "polar architect"?

Even on the snow in Numata Town! DAN DAN DOME," a cardboard house assembled by everyone

Polar architect Yuji Murakami, who has studied the lives of people in the Antarctic, Himalayas, and many other polar regions, held a workshop to build a DAN DAN DOME in the Horoshin-no Mori forest.

DAN DAN DOME is an assembled cardboard dome tent designed by Mr. Murakami and developed with a packaging container company. Although made of paper corrugated cardboard, it is water-resistant and can be used outdoors.

Designed to be assembled by 6~8 adults and children working together, the dome tent can be used for outdoor recreational activities such as festivals and camping, as well as for securing private space at evacuation centers and other emergency situations.

Photo: Yuji Murakami

Photo: Yuji Murakami

The materials and shape are designed to be "disposable," so it can be used freely for drawing, making holes, decorating, and so on.

Photo by Keiichi Baba

In the Horoshin-no Mori forest, experimental workshops were held twice, in October and February, to create and use the DAN DAN DOME.

The second workshop was held in February in the middle of winter. Numata-cho, an area of heavy snowfall and severe cold, is in a sense a "polar region. How much can it withstand the weight of snow? How does it freeze? How can it be used? We repeated experiments.

Polar architect Yusuke Murakami

What kind of person is Mr. Murakami, who conducted the DAN DAN DOME workshop at Horoshin-no Mori?

Mr. Murakami has participated in experiments in Antarctica, the top of Mt. Fuji, the Himalayas, and the "Mars 160" experiment, which simulates life on Mars. He has spent a total of more than 1,000 days in the harsh environment known as the "Polar Regions" and has thoroughly experienced the life and lifestyle of people in the Polar Regions.

Photo: Yuji Murakami, a member of the 50th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition to the Showa Station, Japan.

Field activities during the 50th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition Photo: Yuji Murakami

We interviewed Mr. Murakami, who has such an unusual background.

I wanted to know about the fundamental aspects of human life and living.

From his title of "Polar Architect," one would think that he had a love of adventure and a yearning for space since he was a child, but in his childhood, he was a scared child who would go down the stairs at snow festivals, crying because he was afraid to go down the slides.

He was not so much interested in space as he was in people's lives, and it was when he was a university student that he first encountered the polar regions and space.

When I was a university student studying architecture, I happened to open a magazine and read about an experimental life in Arizona called "Biosphere 2," where eight researchers, men and women, live for two years in complete seclusion. It was an experiment to see if humans could survive in an artificial ecosystem in a huge enclosed space, and the relationship between human life and the global environment.

What I wanted to do in my architectural studies was not to create cool architecture, but to explore the fundamental aspects of human life and living. My encounter with this magazine made me want to think about the roots of human life in space, where humans may move to in the future, from an architectural perspective.

Life in the base of "Mars160: Experimental Life on Mars" Photo by Yuji Murakami

While on Earth, I identified and destroyed "forgotten things" that could happen on Mars.

Thinking about life in space from an architectural perspective" - there was no place in Japan, and almost no place in the world, that was working on this kind of project. Despite the difficulties and many problems, he continued to take action with a strong desire to learn about the roots of human life, and was selected as a member of the Antarctic Research Expedition. While experiencing life in the polar region of Antarctica himself, he observed human life there.

Photographed by Yuji Murakami

Photographed by Yuji Murakami

After that, he continued to accumulate experiences of living in the polar regions, such as accompanying a mountaineering party at a base camp in the Himalayas and spending time at the former weather station at the top of Mt.

Photo: Yuji Murakami

In the midst of all this, Mr. Murakami became interested in whether "what happens in domestic projects happens in international projects as well, and whether different countries produce different ways of living and thinking," and applied for a project called "Experimental Life on Mars. He was selected at the top of the list, and was chosen to participate in the project as deputy commander. The project was an experiment sponsored by an organization with two mock bases in the Arctic and Utah in the U.S., and he was to spend 80 days in Utah and 80 days in the Arctic, for a total of 160 days.

Crew members of the Mars160 Mars Experimental Life Project Photo: Yuji Murakami

Photo: Yuji Murakami

What I thought was interesting about the "Mars Experimental Life" project was the perspective of identifying problems that could occur on Mars while we were on Earth. Even if you realize you forgot your soy sauce over there, you can't go buy it. I thought it was interesting because it was a practical way to make sure we don't forget anything while we're still on Earth.

Photographed by Yuji Murakami

Mars Experimental Life Mars160" on Devon Island, Arctic Circle Photo: Yuji Murakami

However, when it came time to participate in the event, he says that it was more of an appeal to show that "we are ahead of the competition in space initiatives," rather than a way to "clean up forgotten items. Both the organizers and the participants focused only on "what went well," and did not pay much attention to improving "what did not go well. If we do this, we will not be able to improve our lives in space, which is what Murakami believes will happen someday.

I set out to create an opportunity for me to flush out the forgotten things in a real sense," he said. First of all, I secured a two-week slot at a mock base in Utah, and I hosted a mock experiment. Then, since I couldn't go to the U.S. every time I wanted to create a platform in Japan, I rented a section of the retired Antarctic research vessel "SHIRASE 5002" and conducted a simulation experiment.

Former Antarctic research vessel "SHIRASE 5002" Photo: Yuji Murakami

Simulation experiment on the former Antarctic research vessel "SHIRASE 5002" Crew members performing an emergency escape mission Photo: Yuji Murakami

Caring not only for the crew but also for the relationships with the people around them

Crew members who volunteer to participate in the experiment and are prepared for it are able to enjoy even the inconvenience and pain they experience. However, Murakami notes that their families are not prepared.

Space missions are so poorly organized," he says, "that you can't really communicate with the outside world. So even if the crew themselves are able to stand up straight, if the crew's family is shaky, the crew itself will fumble through communication. I see the same composition in the relationship with ground control and mission support people.
I think many people can now understand that this is the ultimate version of "what you can't do remotely. A small difference in communication can go on for a long time without being followed up. We also focused as much as possible on how to cooperate with people who are far away from each other in their daily lives.

Simulated experiment on the former Antarctic research vessel "SHIRASE 5002" communicating with ground controllers on a regular basis Photo: Yuji Murakami

Designing Architecture and Communication Processes

Such small misunderstandings occur not only in special missions, but also in places where people gather. It also happens, for example, in shelters.

DAN DAN DOME was designed to combine the process of communication in the act of architecture.

Photo: Yuji Murakami

When we interviewed evacuation centers, we found that there were two types of evacuation centers: those that voluntarily do things like "let's do the cleaning duty" or "let's put the garbage out in this way," and those that leave it up to the government to do things like "the bathrooms were dirty" when the government workers come.
But shelters are supposed to be a random gathering of people, so there should be no difference at first. What divides this place is the difference in the initial response. But if even one person says, "Let's start with what we can do," everyone starts to move. On the other hand, if someone quietly does the initial work, the others take it for granted that they will do it for you, and leave it to others.

DAN DAN DOME creates the initial response that creates smooth communication in the process of assembling the dome tent.

Photographed by Yuji Murakami

The " DAN DAN GUIDE," a guide to be referred to when assembling the tent, is designed to be moderately difficult to understand and large enough to require multiple people to assemble it, so that conversation and mutual assistance with others is necessary to complete the DAN DAN DOME.

Photo by Yuji Murakami

Some companies are considering using this DAN DAN DOME for new employee training. Why don't you give DAN DAN DOME a try, where you can see who is playing what role in the group?

Let's join "Numata Town Whole Nature Experience Project"!

In addition to DAN DAN DOME, there are many other people and events in Horoshin-no Mori that make people very excited!
Many of you may be thinking "I want to visit Numata Town" or "I want to be involved in the project".

Please become a Mori Asobi supporter and participate in the Numata Town Whole Nature Experience Project!

As a Mori Asobi Supporter (a.k.a. "Mori Suppo"), you will receive information on nature school-related workshops and events by e-mail, allowing you to participate in events that interest you.

In addition, there are sometimes online-delivered events that you can participate in remotely, so no matter where you live, if you are at all interested in becoming a Mori Supporter, we invite you to join our ranks!

Image courtesy of Yuji Murakami, Numata Town