Art: While it's true that the Japanese live in the most densely forested first world country on earth, they have managed that not only through forestry science that predates anything from the west, but also because they now import practically all of their timber.
They are the largest importer in the world, and for all the wisdom they've shown in managing their own forests, Japanese logging companies don't have a very good reputation abroad.
Much of their timber comes from the US and for economic reasons we are pretty happy to sell it to them. To the extent that US forests are well managed the trade benefits both countries.
But you are right that the Japanese logging, mill, and lumber brokerage concerns are destructive. Their activities in SE Asia, Madagascar, and South America are often little more than the rudest sort of plunder with no concessions made to preserve the environment in a sustainable manner.
Harvest timber conscientiously and you can pull limited quantities of top quality wood from a forest indefinitely. Do it poorly and you get one harvest of wood, a few years as marginal cropland, and the rest of eternity as wasted moonscape.
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