The Evolution of Wood
We maximize the potential of wood to create well-being for people and spaces.
Background 1
Japan has abundant forests, yet real wood is gradually disappearing from everyday life.
Today, cities are filled with woodgrain patterns, but the warmth, scent, and character that deepen over time exist only in real wood.
As a company rooted in a country of forests, we want to restore a sensitivity to wood. We aim not merely to supply materials, but to unlock wood's dormant potential and create a future in which real wood lives, breathes, and keeps growing in daily life.
Background 2
Cedar and cypress were once deeply rooted in life in Japan, from homes to crafts. Over many generations, people carefully nurtured these forests.
Yet with changing lifestyles and the spread of new materials, wood came to be seen as something difficult to handle. When wood is no longer used, mountains are neglected and disaster risks rise. Today, Japan's forestry sector faces serious challenges, including a shortage of workers and worsening profitability.
To pass rich forests on to the next generation, we must reconsider how we relate to wood today.
If wood goes unused, forest maintenance stops and the risk of disasters caused by degraded forests increases. Japan's forestry and forest-products industries are now confronting severe issues, including labor shortages and declining profitability.
To hand down the rich forests protected by earlier generations, the way we engage with wood must be reconsidered once again.
The scientific name of Japanese cedar is Cryptomeria japonica.
It means "Japan's hidden treasure."
Cedar, which makes up much of Japan's planted forests, is increasingly becoming large-diameter timber with too few outlets for use, while an aging and shrinking population makes forest rejuvenation ever more urgent.
What is needed now is a healthy cycle of harvesting, using, planting, and growing. Protecting mountains through this cycle is how we protect our own future.
Bringing the wood that has long supported Japanese culture back into daily life in valuable forms is not only about protecting forests and forestry. It is directly connected to passing a richer society on to the next generation.
Background 3
What we aim to create is a new cycle of wood utilization.
Rather than simply consuming forest resources, we support environmental stewardship and local economies by using them again and again.
Even after harvested wood has served its first purpose, it can be passed on to the next era through upcycling. The materials we develop are not only sustainable; they are intended to serve as regenerative materials that help restore the natural environment.
By reducing plastics and promoting wood-based alternatives, we carry the power of wood into the future. That is our role in protecting forests and culture while realizing a circular economy.
It is an economic model that moves away from a linear, disposable use of resources and instead keeps them in circulation, reducing environmental impact while sustaining vibrant economic activity.
They are materials designed not only to reduce environmental burden, but also to help restore nature through the processes of production, use, and circulation. By repeating these cycles, they are expected to increase the value of resources while supporting coexistence between society and the natural world.
To realize a circular economy, we look beyond the traditional 3Rs toward 5Rs.
Reduce Cut overall resource use and minimize waste.
Reuse Keep products and materials in use for as long as possible.
Recycle Turn used materials back into resources and make new products.
Recover Use discarded materials as energy resources instead of treating them as waste.
Renew Forest resources can be regenerated through the power of the sun.
Gywood® is a material created by densifying solid Japanese cedar and other woods through proprietary technology. While improving hardness, strength, and dimensional stability, it retains the lightness, warmth, and shock-absorbing qualities inherent to softwood.
It expands the possibilities of use from interior and exterior applications to furniture and industrial materials, while broadening the potential of domestic timber itself.
ObiRED® is a high-durability material that makes use only of the naturally durable heartwood from large-diameter Obi cedar grown in Miyazaki. It combines natural resistance to decay and termites with beautiful color, light weight, and good workability.
Through cutting and drying methods that preserve the material's natural strengths, it is developed as a highly practical solid-wood brand for interiors, exteriors, decks, and landscape applications.
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