Yakusugi

Yakusugi grows in the montane forest of Yakushima, an island with rainfall above 8,000 mm a year, inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 1993 for, among other things, its forest of Japanese cedars over 1,000 years old. Most of the heritage property is national forest under strict legal protection. Felling of living yakusugi ended in 2001. Domaiboku, found deep in the mountains at around 1,000 m, was hauled out by helicopter until about 2015; the Forestry Agency's market consignment sales ended after October 2018 and March 2019, and only small quantities are now sold twice a year under negotiated contracts to four yakusugi cooperatives.

Yakusugi grows extremely slowly, so its growth rings are very narrow, and its wood is rich in resin; the Japan Tourism Agency describes the craft wood as tight-grained, lustrous and distinctly fragrant. Because kosugi, Japanese cedar younger than 1,000 years, is also used for cheaper crafts, the agency advises buyers to confirm whether an item is authentic yakusugi.

In the Edo period (1603–1867) islanders paid taxes in roof shingles cut from yakusugi; loggers cut the trees two metres or more above the ground to get straight-grained timber, leaving the stumps that now supply domaiboku. Four logging railways were built in the 1920s to carry felled yakusugi to the coast, and logging peaked in the 1960s before declining. Yakusugi crafts are a traditional craft of Kagoshima Prefecture, ranging from furniture to chopsticks, coasters and key rings.