What is forest bathing?

Forest bathing is not a hike, not a nature walk, and not exercise. It is the deliberate practice of being in a forest slowly, with your senses open, for long enough that your body notices.

What shinrin-yoku actually means

The word is Japanese: shinrin (森林), forest, and yoku (浴), bathing. It was coined in 1982 by Japan's Forestry Agency — not by mystics, but by a government agency concerned with public health and with the value of the country's forests. The image in the word is exact: you are not conquering the forest or crossing it. You are immersing yourself in it, the way you would immerse yourself in water.

In the four decades since, shinrin-yoku has been studied extensively in Japan and abroad, and has spread worldwide under the English name "forest bathing."

What happens on a forest bathing walk

People are often surprised by how little ground we cover. A three-hour session might involve less than a kilometre of walking. The distance is not the point; the time is.

A guided session typically includes:

• Slow walking — slower than feels natural at first, until the pace of the city drains out of you.
• Sensory invitations — simple prompts that redirect attention outward: what you can hear, what the air smells of, how the light is moving.
• Stillness — sitting, standing, and where the ground allows, lying down and looking up through the canopy.
• Silence, held together — not awkward silence, but the kind a guide makes safe.
• Tea — a quiet part of the Lakeshore session. Food and drinks bought at shops, and onsen admission, are separate.

Forest bathing is not simply a walk in the woods. Posture, stillness and ground contact matter deeply.

Does it actually do anything?

Yes, and this is the part that surprises sceptics. Studies of forest environments consistently show measurable reductions in cortisol (the main stress hormone), blood pressure, heart rate, and self-reported anxiety. These are physiological findings, not impressions.

Several mechanisms are proposed. Trees release volatile aromatic compounds called phytoncides, whose concentration varies by species, season and weather. And the natural world is unusually rich in something called 1/f fluctuation — yuragi in Japanese — the rhythm that sits exactly between order and randomness, and to which the human nervous system appears deeply attuned. Dappled light through leaves has it. A mountain stream has it. So do your own heartbeat and breathing.

We explored this in detail in our journal →

Forest bathing vs. hiking: the honest difference

We run both, so we can be candid. A hike is about the route: the distance, the history, the summit, the view. It is genuinely wonderful, and it will tire you in a good way.

Forest bathing asks the opposite of you. There is no destination and nothing to accomplish. The measure of a good session is not what you saw but what happened in your body while you were not trying. If you want the first thing, our sister company Coconuts Hike Japan will take you across the Old Tokaido Road. If you want the second, stay here.

Who is it for?

Most of our guests fall into two groups. The first are visitors to Japan who have realised that a trip spent racing between attractions is not, in fact, a rest. The second are people living in Tokyo who know exactly how long it has been since they last felt calm.

Fitness is largely irrelevant. Our gentlest walk is mostly level, with one short gentle slope at the beginning; it is suitable for grandparents, young children and complete beginners. You do not need to meditate, or be spiritual, or believe anything at all. You need to be somewhere quiet with someone who knows the forest, and be given permission to stop.

Do you need a guide?

You can absolutely walk into a forest by yourself, and you should. But there is a reason guided sessions produce the deeper effect: left alone, most of us keep walking. We check the phone. We think about the return train. A guide holds the structure — sets the pace, offers the invitations, keeps time — so that you don't have to manage anything at all. That handing-over is itself part of the rest.

Where to do it near Tokyo

Hakone brings together deep forest, straightforward access from Tokyo and enough variety to choose a calm location for the weather, season and guests walking that day.

That combination of forest, local knowledge and easy access is the reason Breathe Hakone exists.

This page is written by Akihiro Wada, certified shinrin-yoku facilitator, Hakone. It describes a wellbeing practice and does not constitute medical advice.