Wooden building promotion 3 Yamato Town General Gymnasium “Passerelle”
Surrounded by mountains, 70% of the land in Yamato Town in Kamimashikigun, Kumamoto, is covered in forest. The town, with its famous “Tsujun Bridge, ” one of the world’s largest stone-arched bridges designated as Japan’s national treasure in September 2023, has opened the Yamato Town General Gymnasium “Passerelle” in April 2024.

The building was designed to harmonize with the surrounding mountainous landscape and utilizes local cedar and Japanese cypress for structural members and interior finishes. The wooden truss structure above the arena and martial arts hall reduces the weight of the entire roof structure, which offers resistance against earthquakes and disasters, attracting the eye with its beautiful presence.
Furthermore, Yamato Town ranks the third in Kumamoto for the number of forestry organizations ; its local production for consumption leads to the vitalization of forestry, as well as the reduction of wood mileage* and environmental impact.

Yamato Town has damaged by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake and heavy rain disasters, and is also designated as Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Measures Promotion Area . “Pasarelle” aims to become a local-oriented gymnasium that functions as a refuge shelter and disaster prevention base.

*Wood mileage … Wood mileage is a numerical value of the environmental impact of transportation, determined by multiplying the amount of lumber transported by “Wood Miles,” the transportation distance from the lumber origin site to the site of consumption.