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The beauty of Japanese wood

An ongoing exhibition showcases the quality of the country's cypress and cedar.

Tay Suan Chiang

Published Fri, Jan 15, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Design

A sushi counter made of hinoki or Japanese cypress is often the mark of a quality Japanese restaurant. What makes it so valued is its fine wood grain, even tone and near absence of any knots.

The Yoshino forest in Okuyamato region has mountains full of cedar and cypress trees, planted in a dense mass up to four times the size of an average forest. Each tree is thinned repeatedly and carefully tended over 200 years before they are harvested, resulting in straight, uniform trunks of timber.

For a close up look at Yoshino wood and to even buy some pieces, check out Into The Woods, an exhibition organised by the Nara Prefectural Government, Okuyamato Migration and Exchange Promotion Office. It shines the spotlight on 16 artisans from Okuyamato and their cr…