Fine wood - Meiboku

Japanese: 銘木 - めいぼく

It is a rare and expensive timber with unusual shape, color, grain, and quality, and a special charm. It is used as a design of Japanese architecture in teahouses, Sukiya-style buildings, and around the tokonoma alcoves of Japanese-style houses. Natural logs and bark pillars, as well as sawn timber with plank and straight grain, or special grains composed of annual rings and pith lines are preferred.

Fine wood can be broadly divided into three types: natural wood, semi-natural wood, and processed fine wood.

[Jin Nakamura]

Natural wood

The trees are used as they are, without any changes to their appearance, and the bark is polished and the logs are used to appreciate their natural beauty. Typical examples include red pine, cherry blossom, camellia, Chinese quince, and magnolia.

[Jin Nakamura]

Semi-natural wood

There are logs that have had their bark peeled off and are used as polished logs, and logs that have had their rough bark removed and are then rusted, called atesabi logs and sabi logs. Polished logs include Kitayamasugi (Kitayama cedar), Yoshinosugi (Yoshino cedar), muro (juniper), and chinquapin, and among them, natural ayasugi logs are considered to be the highest quality. Atesabi logs are made by peeling the bark off felled ate (asunaro) logs and leaving them in the mountains for several days to allow black mold to seep into the bark. Sabi logs are made by rusting plain cypress logs using the same method.

[Jin Nakamura]

Processed precious wood

These are squared timber, shaved logs, and planks made from wood that has been processed using cutting techniques, and representative examples include cypress, cedar, red pine, pitch pine, zelkova, camphor, mulberry, and paulownia.

In recent years, due to resource depletion and advances in plywood technology, the ratio of processed products, known as artificial products, to natural products has been increasing.

[Jin Nakamura]

"Compilation of Sukiya Architecture: A Collection of Fine Woods" edited by Masao Nakamura (1985, Shogakukan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

形状、色沢、木理、材質が珍奇で、特殊な風趣をもつ高価で希少価値のある用材のこと。茶室や数寄屋(すきや)建築、和風住宅の床の間まわりで、和風建築のデザインとして用いられる。自然のままの丸太や面皮(めんかわ)柱をはじめ、製材した木材の板目や柾(まさ)目、あるいは年輪や髄線から構成される特殊な木目(もくめ)が好まれる。

　銘木は大きく、自然木、準自然木、加工銘木の3種類に分けられる。

［中村　仁］

自然木

まったく外見を変えず、立樹の姿そのままで用いられるもので、樹皮を磨き、皮付き丸太としてその自然美を賞味する。代表的なものに、アカマツ、サクラ、ツバキ、カリン、コブシなどがある。

［中村　仁］

準自然木

樹皮をはいで磨き丸太として用いるものや、荒皮をはぎ錆(さび)付けを施す檔錆(あてさび)丸太、錆丸太がある。磨き丸太としては、キタヤマスギ（北山杉）、ヨシノスギ（吉野杉）、ムロ（ネズ）、シイなどがあり、なかでも天然の綾(あや)（アヤスギ）丸太は最高級のものとされる。檔錆丸太は、伐採したあて（アスナロ）丸太の荒皮をはぎ、山中に数日放置し、樹肌にクロカビを染み付かせる。錆丸太は、ヒノキの素丸太を同様の手法で錆付けしたものである。

［中村　仁］