YANASE Japanese Cedar
魚梁瀬杉（ヤナセスギ）
産地；高知県（県木）
「魚梁瀬（やなせ）」は高知県の地名で、特に馬路村魚梁瀬地区が有名です。
魚梁瀬杉は、木目が美しく、強度と耐久性に優れた高級材として知られています。特に建築や家具、神社仏閣の用材として重宝されてきました。
平安時代から魚梁瀬杉の天然林が存在し、戦国時代には豊臣秀吉が方広寺の大仏殿建立のために全国の銘木を集めさせたときに、土佐藩主の長宗我部元親が魚梁瀬杉を献上したといわれています。その後も藩の財政を支える産業として厳重に管理されていました。「秋田杉」「屋久杉」と並び日本三大杉美林の一つに数えられ、高級建材として柱材・天井板などに使用されました。色みは淡紅色で木目はキメ細かく、節が少なく建築材としても使いやすい銘木の一つです。
木の力；雄大、堅固、人の為に生きる
YANASE Japanese Cedar
Origin: Kōchi Prefecture (Prefectural tree)
“Yanase” is a place name in Kōchi Prefecture, particularly known for the Yanase area of Umaji Village.
Yanase cedar is renowned as a high-grade timber with beautiful grain, excellent strength, and outstanding durability. It has long been valued for use in architecture, furniture, and the construction of shrines and temples.
Natural forests of Yanase cedar have existed since the Heian period. During the Sengoku period, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the collection of fine timber from all over Japan for the construction of the Great Buddha Hall of Hōkō-ji, it is said that Chōsokabe Motochika, the lord of the Tosa domain, offered Yanase cedar. Thereafter, the forests were strictly managed as a major industry supporting the domain’s economy.
Counted alongside “Akita Sugi” and “Yakusugi” as one of Japan’s three great cedar forests, Yanase cedar has been used as a luxury building material for pillars, ceiling boards, and more. Its color is a pale reddish tint, with fine, even grain and few knots, making it easy to use as a construction wood.
Meaning: Magnificence, solidity, living for the sake of others.