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We deliver valuable hinoki cypress wood from Kiso

Integrated production from felling to delivery

Quality control and cost reduction through labor-saving and rationalized in-house integrated production. 
Our company employs an integrated production system that includes everything from “tree felling,” which requires experience and good sense to “shipment,” "sawing,” which requires precise and stable skill, and “drying” and “finishing.” By improving the efficiency of the sawing line through computer control, which has enabled the reduction of personnel to 2-3 from 25-30, we have ensured strict control/maintenance of quality while reducing labor costs.  Moreover, by dealing directly with the customers without involving wholesalers, we have eliminated any middleman's fees and further reduced costs, enabling us to offer high-quality hinoki cypress from Kiso at a more affordable price. 
Technical ability that ensures high quality
The Nr.1 and Nr.2 automated saws on the sawing line are controlled by computer, enabling waste-free, and speedy sawing.  The timber is then dried in six dryers until its water content is less than 20%. The timber, with stable quality thus ensured, is then finished with α cut with 1/100 mm precision.  Moreover, the water content and strength ( Young’s modulus) of each piece of timber are measured using a grading machine and then printed on it to clearly show the quality of the timber before shipment. Our company will continue such cost effective efforts to ensure high-quality delivery of hinoki cypress from Kiso. 
Reduction of delivery routes
We have reassessed our delivery routes and bring the product directly to the location our customer has instructed.  By not involving wholesalers, we eliminated any middleman’s charges and have reduced cost.

Various materials

Timber for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples
Hinoki cypress from Kiso is known as the prime timber for luxurious wooden buildings and has captivated Japanese people for many years.  Hinoki cypress from Kiso has superior durability, earthquake resistance, health effect, rot resistance, and termite resistance. It also has many comforting features such as a pleasant aroma, warmness, and texture. In its long history, it has always been a highly praised structural material.  The strength of hinoki timber, including its bending, compression, and tensile strengths, continues to increase for 200 years after it is felled. It is believed that after 200 years, its increased strength starts to gradually decrease, and it returns to its original strength after 2000 years.  We are proud of the superior properties of Hinoki cypress from Kiso, and we deliver our timber with confidence. 
<<Examples of our delivery record>>Inner Torii gates at Yasukuni Shrine (Tokyo), Western Shosoin (Miyagi Prefecture), and many more.
Timber for houses
The highest quality timber for your home
At Katsuno Wood, we have adapted and integrated in-house products to reduce middle costs, and we have made it possible to use plenty of Hinoki cypress from Kiso, which is the most luxurious timber, in normal housing, which increases the value of the houses.  Morizou Co., Ltd., to whom we supply timber, uses hinoki cypress from Kiso for the important but invisible foundational parts of houses such as the floor system and the attic, using mainly 120-mm square timber pieces of hinoki cypress. 
The strength of hinoki cypress from Kiso
　The wood is believed to be two to four times stronger than iron or concrete, regardless of the type of tree. In particular, it displays more than 10 times the bending strength.  In particular, the data shows that the Youn’s modulus of hinoki cypress from Kiso is 1.5–2 times higher than that of Japanese cedar. 　When a 3-m long 120-mm square timber of our Hinoki cypress from Kiso and that of Japanese cedar are compared, it showed that while the Japanese cedar broke under a 3-t load, the hinoki cypress could withstand more than a 5-t load. 　It is safe to say that hinoki cypress from Kiso exhibits superior durability and strength that make it the best building material. 
Sculpture material
Its tone, aroma, and stickiness make it an ideal material for sculpture.  We offer the material in various sizes.

The value of Kiso hinoki wood

It takes a hinoki cypress tree from Kiso ninety to a hundred years to grow be large enough for a 120 mm pillar in the extremely harsh climate of the Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture. This long process results in timber with a comforting aroma and fine and beautiful grain.  As it has superior durability and strength, is easy to process and shows little warping, and it is considered to be one of the best building materials of the world.
The following are the lifespans of hinoki cypress trees. 
Natural hinoki cypress from Kiso: 400 × 3 times = 1,200 years
Hinoki cypress from Kiso: 90 × 3 times = 240 years
Planted forest (other areas): 20 × 3 times = 60 years
The strength of hinoki timber, including its bending, compression, and tensile strengths, continues to increase for 200 years after it is felled. It is believed that after 200 years, its increased strength starts to gradually decrease, and it returns to its original strength after 2000 years.  We are proud of the superior properties of Hinoki cypress from Kiso, and we deliver our timber with confidence.  
From natural hinoki cypress from Kiso to planted hinoki cypress from Kiso: About 100 years ago (between the late Meiji and early Taisho periods), elite trees (cypress with superior quality genes) were selected from the stock of Kiso hinoki cypress trees. Seeds taken from these trees were used to make nursery trees, and our predecessors in the Meiji period carried them in their backs into the mountains to plant the forests. 
The trees that inherited this extremely good durability and strength are now the Kiso hinoki cypress trees that are used as building materials after 80 to 90 years.