YOSHINO WOOD – 奈良の木のこと

The only wood of its kind in the world.
The only tradition of its kind in the world.

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About YOSHINO WOOD

Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress are Japan’s most representative evergreen conifers.
In particular, cedar and cypress trees which are grown in Yoshino, in Japan’s Nara Prefecture, are known as “Yoshino wood” and are celebrated as superior japanese timber.
The distinctive characteristics of this wood are uniform and dense annual rings, few knots and a beautiful color.
It is believed that the first trees planted in Japan for commercial afforestation purposes were in Yoshino area about 500 years ago.
As a result of a distinguished forestry tradition that continues to this day, “Yoshino wood” is created through endless efforts across several generations.

About Nara:: Japan’s first capital, it served as the easternmost station on the Silk Road and it boasts the world’s oldest wooden building, Horyuji Temple (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Blessed conditions

Forests occupy about 77% of Nara Prefecture’s total area. Yoshino, located in the southern part the prefecture, is blessed with very favorable climatic conditions for the growth of cedar and cypress trees, namely an annual rainfall of 2000 mm or more, an average temperature of about 14℃, relatively few typhoons and a winter snow accumulation of 30 cm or less.
Additionally, the soil is abundant in rocks containing minerals like limestone and rich in nutrients necessary for plant growth, including potassium phosphate and silicates.
Yoshino’s blessed natural conditions nurture high-quality “Yoshino wood”.

The only tradition

Dense annual rings

The effects of planting many trees and thinning them out frequently

Planted trees
per hectare

General practice

YOSHINO WOOD

Years until
final cutting

General practice

YOSHINO WOOD

Planting trees closely together prevents them from growing too wide in diameter and ensures a dense wood grain. It also ensures that the bottom and the top sections of the trunk have approximately the same diameter.
After having been planted, trees are carefully and repeatedly thinned out over a period of 100 or 200 years to ensure that they grow into selected high-quality wood.

Few knots

Each and every tree in a vast forest is individually and meticulously cared for in a variety of ways. One of these is pruning, in which extra branches growing out of the trunk are removed manually. Careful pruning in a timely fashion allows the trees to grow uniformly and with few knots.
In addition, they are grown upright, which ensures straight and beautiful wood grain.

Attractive color

Yoshino wood has been admired for many years for its beautiful color and luster,and for this reason it has been widely used as a high-end interior material.
In particular, a technique called hagarashi (lit:“drying with leaves on”), consisting in laying them to dry on the forest floor with the leaves attached, is used. This way, moisture from inside the trunk drains slowly through the leaves, giving the wood an especially beautiful color.

Other characteristics

Strong and supple

Pleasant
to the touch

Resistant to mold,
E.Coli and viruses

Soothing scent

History of YOSHINO WOOD

500-year old forestry

Yoshino area is the first place in Japan where trees were planted for commercial afforestation purposes, with records showing that trees were first planted here around 1500 AD.
Staring from the second half of the 16th century, Yoshino wood began to be used in the Kyoto-Osaka region for erecting temples, shrines and castles, most notably Osaka Castle and Fushimi Castle.

Lumber transportation by rafts(at Yoshino River)

500-year old forestry

Relationship with sake

Yoshino wood is “a straight-grained wood with few knots and dense annual rings,” properties that prevent liquids from leaking out. For this reason, it has been widely used for making sake barrels since the 1700s. High-quality sake from the Kamigata region (modern day Kyoto-Osaka area) was stored in Yoshino cedar sake barrels to be transported by ship to Edo (modern day Tokyo). During the storage, the scent of cedar wood would seep into the sake, giving it a unique scent and taste, which was particularly appreciated by the residents of Edo.

Examples of applications

JAPAN NATIONAL STADIUM
(Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)

The main stadium used for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Based on the design by architect Kengo Kuma and others involved, different varieties of timber from all over Japan were used in this stadium. In particular, Yoshino cedar was used for the interior of VIP and VVIP lounges.

Architecture

Yoshino Cedar House
(Yoshino Town, Nara)

An accommodation facility created by architect Go Hasegawa in collaboration with Airbnb.
It was built by local sawmills and carpenters using abundant quantities of Yoshino cedar and Yoshino cypress.

Architecture

J of JINS Roppongi Hills store
(Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Eyewear brand JINS’s new-concept store in Roppongi Hills aimed at high-end customers. The design is based on the Shoso-in treasure hall in Nara, and Yoshino cypress is used on every surface.