Rosewood

Shitan woods do not grow in Japan and have always been imported. Dalbergia cochinchinensis comes from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos; D. latifolia from India and Indonesia, where plantation wood from Java is known as sonokeling; D. nigra (Brazilian rosewood) from South America, especially Brazil; and Pterocarpus santalinus grows naturally only in a limited area of southeastern India, mainly Andhra Pradesh. Siamese rosewood (D. cochinchinensis) is listed as Vulnerable and P. santalinus as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Shitan is very heavy and dense, and some pieces sink in water, but sinking is not a valid test because species differ (D. latifolia normally floats). The name is applied loosely: the Japanese Buddhist-altar labelling standard lists D. cochinchinensis, D. retusa and D. latifolia as 'hon-shitan' and allows woods such as pau rosa (Swartzia), Bolivian rosewood (Machaerium scleroxylon), granadillo and bubinga to be labelled 'shitan-type', while 'shitan-chō' means only a printed or stained shitan look. Pau rosa has long been used in Japanese religious goods, and other woods are sometimes given '…rosewood' names because of a similar colour. A bead sold simply as shitan therefore does not show which species it is; counterfeit zitan is also reported in the form of other Pterocarpus or Dalbergia woods.

Wood dislikes long exposure to water, so shitan pieces should not be soaked or tested by immersion.

Shitan has long been a prized craft material in Japan. In the Shōsōin repository in Nara, the five-stringed biwa lute Raden Shitan no Gogen Biwa, recorded in the Kokka Chinpō-chō inventory of treasures, has its body, finial and tuning pegs made of shitan, decorated with mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell. Shitan has been used for top-grade Buddhist altars, tokonoma posts, fine furniture, sashimono, karaki craft, chopsticks and Buddhist implements.