Despite being a small island nation, Japan is home to around 1200 varieties of tree.
This abundance is partly due to its escaping the drastic reduction in tree species that affected Europe and North America during the last Ice Age. For comparison, there are only two native species of oak in the UK, but 16 in Japan. There is one species of maple in England, but 26 in Japan. Japan’s diversity is also driven by geographical factors: the country extends out in a north-south direction, and has many high mountain ranges. Conifers such as cedar and cypress are consequently found all over the country, while broadleaf evergreens such as shii (Castanopsis cuspidata) and kashi (Quercus acuta) oaks grow mainly in the south, and deciduous trees such as nara (Quercus serrata) oak and beech mainly in the north.
A gallery of 1 item.
Japanese timber use
Ancestors of the Japanese people exploited the islands’ plentiful woodland resources to construct buildings and create household utensils. Six large chestnut pillars, each a metre in diameter, were discovered at the Sannai-Maruyama site in Aomori Prefecture, a settlement which flourished around 3900-2200 BCE. The people of that time are believed to have grown chestnuts around their village due to the tree’s dual purpose: the wood is resistant to rot and thus suitable for construction, while the nuts are edible.
Japan’s oldest history book, Nihon Shoki (‘The Chronicles of Japan’), dates back to 720 CE and also recommends that cedar and camphor trees be used for ships, cypress for palaces, and kōyamaki (umbrella pine, Sciadopitys verticillata) for coffins. Indeed, cedar and camphor woods are water-resistant, soft and easily worked, making them ideal for boat-building; cypress is beautiful and strong, making it suitable for construction; and kōyamaki has a high oil content and resistance to rotting, making it a good choice for coffins. In other words, each tree was listed with a use matching its characteristics, showing that the principle of tekizai-tekisho (using the right materials in the right places) has been known since ancient times.
A gallery of 1 item.
Timber in the hands of dōmiya-daiku
The term dōmiya-daiku refers to carpenter craftspeople who work on large edifices such as shrines and temples. These buildings must be robust enough to last for centuries, yet must also be beautiful when viewed from a distance.
Typically, they are constructed using cypress, which grows long and straight. Some studies indicate that both the compressive strength and bending strength of cypress continue to increase for two to three hundred years after harvesting, after which they slowly decrease over the next thousand years, finally returning to the initial level.
Hōryū-ji, a Buddhist temple in Nara Prefecture, is known as the world’s oldest wooden structure. It is built of cypress, and is still going strong 1300 years after its construction. Similarly, the buildings comprising Ise Jingū, the foremost shrine of Japan’s ancient religion Shintō, have been rebuilt every twenty years for the past 1300 years. This process is known as ‘Shikinen Sengū’, and is one way for the top dōmiya-daiku carpenters involved in the construction to transmit their skills to the next generation. Shikinen Sengū uses over 10,000 cypress trees on each occasion, some of which are more than 500 years old. The trees employed in the ceremonial rebuilding are protected in state-owned forests spanning Gifu and Nagano prefectures.
A gallery of 1 item.
Timber selected by sukiya carpenters
A sukiya-daiku, on the other hand, is a craftsperson who builds frugal and elegant structures. The focus here is on beauty when viewed close up, indoors. A typical example of sukiya architecture is chashitsu, a tea room where guests are invited to practise chadō, the Way of Tea. Chashitsu are made up of just four and a half tatami mats: less than eight square metres. Whereas temples and shrines are constructed using the wood of noble and revered cypress trees, tea rooms are considered to be simple structures expressing the aesthetic of wabi-sabi (simply put, celebrating the beauty in imperfection and impermanence), and are assembled using unprocessed thin cedar logs 40-50 years old. The interior emphasizes a love for the beauty of nature, and may feature crooked logs, wood still bearing its bark, or bamboo staves.
A gallery of 1 item.
Trees in everyday life in Japan
Wood is not only found in Japanese shrines, temples and tea houses: most people still live in wooden houses and use wooden utensils. Approximately 60% of residential housing in Japan is made of wood, and when entering a house, Japanese people remove their shoes, walk along wooden floors, and in some rooms, may sit on tatami mats. Meals are often served using bowls and plates made from lacquered horse chestnut or zelkova (in the elm family). Recent years have seen a boom in the popularity of forks and spoons made from cherry or maple by young woodworkers. There is every likelihood that trees will remain an integral part of everyday life in Japan for years to come.
A gallery of 1 item.
Issues facing Japan’s woodlands and timber
Despite Japan’s close affinity for trees in daily life, its forests are under threat from human activity. Most of the large-diameter trees growing in virgin forests have already been felled, with the result that resources are becoming scarce. On the other hand, large numbers of cedar and cypress trees were planted by the state following World War II, and these forests are now full of young trees already at a usable diameter. Yet since the import of logs and timber was freed up some sixty years ago, cheap wood has been arriving from abroad in large quantities, and Japan’s timber self-sufficiency rate has declined to 40%. The number of forestry workers is decreasing, and forests are becoming neglected. It is now imperative that communities once again start using trees from their local woodlands, and that sustainable initiatives are implemented to grow the forests of the future.
A gallery of 2 items.
About the author
After eight years working as a news programme director at NHK, Kutsuwa Masashi retrained as a woodworker in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture. From 2001, he spent five years working as a furniture maker in three workshops in England, Wales and Scotland. Since 2006, he has been a woodwork teacher at the Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture, which trains forestry and timber professionals. He appears in British author Wyl Menmuir’s latest book ‘The Heart of the Woods’ as a guide to Takayama.
About the photographer
Yokoi Shūichi is a representative of the Silviculture Technology Research Institute, and a specially appointed professor at the Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture. Keen to pass on his silviculture skills, he works as a lecturer at universities and vocational schools, as well as on training courses for working people.