HIZENKOKU Japanese Cypress
肥前国桧（ヒゼンコクヒノキ）
産地；佐賀県
佐賀県は人工林の面積が全国一位という林業が盛んな地域です。杉が一番多く、桧も重要な材木として育成されています。この桧は福岡県から佐賀県までをまたがる脊振山系の山のものです。脊振山地は「飛龍が背を振ったように見える」ことから名づけられ、弁財天が降り立ったといわれる信仰の山で、比叡山・高野山・英彦山と並ぶ山岳仏教の聖地です。
日本書紀には「ヒノキは宮殿に使いなさい」との記述があり、日本では古来より格式ある建材としての伝統がある建築材です。
木の力；不滅、高潔、威厳、癒し、水の守り神
HIZENKOKU Japanese Cypress
Origin: Saga Prefecture
Saga Prefecture is a major forestry region, boasting the largest area of planted forests in Japan. Cedar is the most common, but cypress is also cultivated as an important timber. This particular cypress comes from the Sefuri Mountain Range, which spans from Fukuoka Prefecture to Saga Prefecture. The name Sefuri is said to come from the appearance of a “flying dragon shaking its back,” and the mountains are considered sacred—believed to be the place where Benzaiten descended—and regarded as a center of mountain Buddhism alongside Mount Hiei, Mount Kōya, and Mount Hikosan.
In the Nihon Shoki, it is recorded that “Hinoki should be used for palaces,” showing that cypress has long been esteemed in Japan as a noble, traditional building material.
Symbolic meaning: Immortality, purity, dignity, healing, guardian deity of water