According to _A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters_ , 森 (38) is woods
and 林 (75) is forest.

But some material I've found online related to Japan seems to indicate 森 is
the more correct Japanese word for forest.

Is the book correct or do native Japanese speakers use 森 for forest, and not
林?

**Edit** : To give a little more context I originally avoided in the question
to avoid appearing commercial but now I see will help make answers more
specific, one of these words is already used to brand a product. If it's the
incorrect word I'll need to change the product name.

I hope that helps, and I apologize if being vague hampers you giving what you
feel is an appropriate response.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-08T03:27:09.920
782
2015-03-23T04:27:11.060
2011-06-09T00:41:56.920
125
230
question
word-choice kanji definitions
森 vs 林 for forest
林 is usually used for "copse", and 森 for "forest".
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-08T03:28:45.907
783
2011-06-08T03:28:45.907
22
782
answer
Put them together. 森林 (しんりん）

For example: アメリカ合衆国国立森林公園 American National Forest Park

[This Japanese Wikipedia
article](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AE%E6%A3%AE%E6%9E%97%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7)
will give you a huge list of examples using: 森, 林, 森林, and others like 梅林. But
it seems like "nani nani no mori" is very commonly used. "Nani nani no
hayashi" seems not to be used.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-08T03:38:11.710
784
2011-06-08T06:16:52.297
2011-06-08T06:16:52.297
28
233
782
answer
It's going to depend on the type of place you're describing. In the case of
森、which in goo's dictionary leads to 森林:

> 樹木、特に高木が群生して大きな面積を占めている所。また、その植物群落

Loose translation: "A place where trees and shrubs, more specifically tall
trees occupy a large area in mass"

Source: <http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/115966/m0u/>

Where in the case of 林:

> 樹木がたくさん集まって生えている所

Source: <http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/179447/m0u/%E6%9E%97/>

Loose Translation: "A place where trees and shrubs gather and grow"
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-08T04:06:15.090
789
2011-06-08T04:06:15.090
180
782
answer
This is a bit late but hopefully it will be useful to others. I was just
discussing this question with a native Japanese speaker (who is also a
language teacher). Here's what he said:

  * 林 (はやし): A small collection of trees. A small wood, a copse or a bunch of bushes.
  * 森 (もり): A large wood/a small forest. This one is also meant to conjure up images of bigger, denser, deep green trees as opposed to small trees with light foliage.

...so generally speaking, 森 > 林.

  * 森林 (しんりん): Put them both together and this means a big forest, like the type that would cover a mountain in Japan. This is what the English word 'forest' would usually be translated to.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-23T04:27:11.060
23400
2015-03-23T04:27:11.060
9675
782
answer