Smoke still drifts over Edo after the Great Fire of Meireki —
100,000 dead, half the capital lost. The shogun demands cedar
to rebuild. You are a yamamori (forest warden) defending the
last groves through four seasonal waves.
DEFEND THE TREES
sugi 杉 ·
matsu 松 ·
hinoki 檜
1. MOVE WASD or arrow keys
2. ACT stand next to one, press SPACE:
fire → douse ·
poacher → chase off
3. REFILL bucket holds 3 charges — walk onto
river to refill
ESC pause · M mute
1. MOVE use the joystick on the bottom-left
2. ACT stand next to a threat and tap the big red ACT button (bottom-right):
fire ·
poacher
3. REFILL
walk onto the
river to refill your bucket
Tap the small PAUSE pill (top-left) to stop the patrol
HOW IT LOOKS · 実 演
1. Stand next to a fire, press the action key, bucket water douses it
2. Stand next to a poacher, act to scare them off and save the tree
3. Walk into the river or pond to refill your bucket — 3 charges max
1
Fire
Stand beside it, tap ACT — water douses it (+50)
2
Poacher
Stand beside them, tap ACT to scare them off (+40)
3
River
Walk onto the river or pond to refill your bucket (3 max)
4
Power-up
Walk over a glowing orb to collect it (rain, shield, ...)
POWER-UPS walk over a glowing orb to grab a boost that helps your actions.
e.g. rain orb → douses every fire at once
History · 歴史
Between 1600-1867, fires drove Japan to build the world's first
sustainable forestry system. Ieyasu's three biggest castles alone
cleared ~10 sq mi of forest; each acre of farmland demanded 5-10
acres of forest for green fertilizer. — Diamond, Collapse, ch. 9.
THE TAKEAWAY: Japan recovered by
protecting forests that still stood, not by replanting. Mature
forests sequester up to 30× more carbon per hectare than new
plantings. Conservation beats new planting.
PAUSED
休 止
The patrol is halted.
VICTORY
PATROL ENDED
巡 視 終 了
0
杉 Sugi
0
檜 Hinoki
0
枯 Lost
0
点 Score
After the Meireki Fire of 1657 (100,000 dead, half of Edo
burned), Japan's runaway timber consumption threatened collapse.
By 1666 the shogun had issued a nationwide conservation
proclamation; modern science confirms the logic — mature forests
sequester up to 30× more carbon per hectare than new plantings.
Conservation beats new planting.
Sources · 出典
• Diamond, Jared.Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, ch. 9 — "Opposite Paths to Success" (Viking, 2005).
• Totman, Conrad.The Green Archipelago: Forestry in Preindustrial Japan (UC Press, 1989).
• Miyazaki Antei.Nōgyō zensho (農業全書, 1697) — first comprehensive Japanese silvicultural treatise.
• Moomaw, W. R. et al. (2019). "Intact Forests in the United States: Proforestation Mitigates Climate Change." Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 2:27. doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2019.00027
• Wikipedia:
Great Fire of Meireki ·
Forestry in Japan ·
Cryptomeria (sugi).
YAMAMORI 山守 · THE EDO FOREST KEEPER · 2026
📱
Please rotate your phone
Yamamori 山守 is best played in landscape mode. Rotate to landscape to begin your patrol.