About our Wood

Wooden products made by Shimizu Mokuzai are born from the local timber of Kiso in Nagano.
"Kisoji is all in the mountains."
As it is said in the passage of "Yoakemae" of Shimazaki Touson.Kiso has been blessed with an abundance of forests since ancient times, and people have been using wood to improve their livelihood since then.
At Shimizu Mokuzai, of the precious trees called "The Five Great Trees of Kiso", we mainly use Hinoki, Sawara, Kouyamaki and to make our products.

About the Sawara used for ohitsus and the sushi okes.

• Why "Sawara" is used to make ohitsus and sushi okes.

  • ・The fragrance of the Sawara is a perfect accompaniment to rice.
  • ・It’s water resistant
  • ・Light and easy to handle
  • ・Sterilization effect
  

• The "compatibility with rice" is more important than anything

  Each type of wood has different features.
  The fragrance from the wood is one of them.
  The fragrance of wood called Sawara has very good compatibility with rice.
  Ohitsus and Sushi okes are not products which convey goodness as a standalone item.

  It is just a tool used to enhance the taste of rice."Hinoki" is known as a famous wood for its good fragrance, but in terms of "compatibility with rice" it is often said that "Sawara" is better.

  

• To preserve the pristineness for a long time.

  Ohitsus and sushi okes accompany daily meals.
  Although we pay close attention to its functionality, there are quite a few of those who say that "it’s too difficult to maintain and so I feel like I can’t take the first step to make the change".
  awara is known for its rich oil content, making it softer than other woods.
  This oil provides a great resistance to water.

  This being said, if you do not know how to deal with water and how to care for them properly, you will find it difficult to feel draw out the products’ maximum functionality.
  With Swara, you should be able to maintain it with ease on a daily basis.

  

• Because we want you to use for your daily meals.

  Ohitsus and sushi okes which makes "rice" which is easy to become familiar with for Japanese tastes.

  Keep it in a place close to you and, if possible, we would happy if you were to use it every day. If an ohitsu were unbelievably heavy and hard to carry around, it may be bothersome to use every day. It would also become difficult to care for it frequently.

  Sawara wood, however, is known to be "very light" while having a beautiful wood grain.
  By processing the ohitsus and sushi okes, we can reduce their "weight" as kitchen appliances.
  One could say that being light and easy to handle is the charm of an ohitsu or a sushi oke made of Sawara.

  

• Reassuring sterilization effect

  Because ohitsus and sushi okes often store rice inside, the "sterilization effect" is also an important factor.
  Sawara has a natural sterilization effect.
  Everyone in the family can enjoy delicious rice with peace of mind.

  

• Many of the ohitsus and sushi okes are made of Sawara.

  It seems that the ancient people had grasped the characteristics of Sawara wood, and its good compatibility with cookware.
  Most of the ohitsus and sushi okes which are currently on sale are made of Sawara.
  Selection of timber as a material is an important point because it is to be used on a daily basis.
  When you choose a sushi oke or ohitsu, please try and take a look at the material and its quality.

  

The Five Great Trees of Kiso of Shinshu Kiso.

The Five Great Trees of Kiso is a group of precious five woods, which also appears in the poem of Kiso-verse, and includes "Hinoki, Sawara, Kouyamaki, Asunaro, and Nezuko."
The mountains of Kiso were known for producing excellent timber from ancient times, but in the early Edo period, the forests were devastated by the construction of the castle town and the surrounding buildings.Therefore, a strict protection production called "one tree felled, one neck chopped" was decreed by the ruling Tokugawa clan of the ancient Owari province (near current-day Nagoya) which managed the mountains of Kiso at the time. The five types of trees that were protected from being cut down are called “The Five Great Trees of Kiso’.
Today, most of the Kiso Valley Mountains are under the control of the federal government as national forests, and are preserved as beautiful forests through extensive planting and logging planning.

• Hinoki

  Hinoki is famous for being used as a building material for shrines and temples since ancient times.
  Hinoki is a strong wood, suitable as a building material.
  At the ‘Ise Jingu’ Shrine, the rebuilding ceremony is held once every 20 years, and Kiso Hinoki has been used since the eighteenth century.

  

• Sawara

  It is beautiful, similar to Hinoki in color with a pretty wood grain, and it an excellent material to make sushi okes because of its strong resistance to rain, moisture, and acid.In addition, because it is only second in lightness to Kiri wood, it has a number of applications.
  In addition to the fact that there are few woods with fragrances like Hinoki and Asunaro, Sawara also has a sterilizing effect, making it useful for making wooden containers for cooked rice, ladles, and okes in addition to wooden baths.

  

• Kouyamaki

  The wood grain is beautiful, the color is a yellowish white, it is shinier than Hinoki, and is resistant to moisture for a long period of time.
  As indispensable materials in the production of wooden baths and other such products, kouyomaki has been used as the most appropriate material for making sinks, ships, bridges and the like.

  

• Hiba/ Asunaro

  Because of its various useful characteristics such as low deviation, strong loading ability, high preservation property, dense material and so on, it is often used as a building material, fittings material, and lacquerware products.

  

• Nezuko

  It has an excellent resistance to water, light, and abrasion.It is easy to process and has been used as a building material for furniture, clogs, and tea rooms for a long time.