Whether your next shou sugi ban project is building a cabin-resort in the woods of Washington state or a bird sanctuary in Pennsylvania, siding is one of the most important elements in…
Charred Wood Siding Color Change
A lot of Westerners considering traditional yakisugi start with the assumption that because it is burned, it will be black and stay black forever without any re-oiling maintenance. This comes from confusion…
Shou Sugi Ban Wood: 5 Things Every Architect Should Know Before Specifying
Today’s architects face many challenges. Working with contractors and homeowners, researching new products like shou sugi ban wood, spending countless hours from conceptual drafts to detail diagrams, and of course managing their…
DIY: What’s the Best Way to Brush Your Own Shou Sugi Ban?
Setting the Stage Our two main mills in Hiroshima and Tokushima Japan are the largest yakisugi “shou sugi ban” millwork operation in the world, with a proprietary high-volume semi-automated millwork and heat…
DIY: Burning Shou Sugi Ban by the Traditional Japanese Flue Method
The Setup: Research, Preparation and Location are key One of the most interesting things about shou sugi ban is the transformational process used to make it–burning carefully prepared planks with intense heat…
Biophilic Design (and wood)
What is Biophilic Design? Biophilia is the human love of nature. Biophilic design is the practice of consciously incorporating materials or spaces that reinforce our relationship with the living world into the…
Japanese Burnt Wood Siding: Top 10 Myths About Shou Sugi Ban
Over the years we’ve seen a lot of mixed information circling the web surrounding what Japanese burnt wood siding (shou sugi ban) is, how it is used, and wood siding in general.…
Nakamoto Forestry’s European Branch is Now One Year Old!
The Nakamoto Forestry’s EU branch in Düsseldorf, Germany, has now been open for one year and things are ramping up. Martin and Andreas are running a tight ship, having tested and selected…
The Japanese Concept of Mottainai
There are several ubiquitous words in Japanese that are great culture studies. One of the most important is the concept of mottainai. Mottainai represents the concepts of efficiency, modesty, and practicality, all…
Exterior Yakisugi Weathering: Years 1-3
Today I was getting ready to wash my yakisugi privacy wall in a spring cleanup and started noticing how it is weathering. Then I realized this is good content since weathering is…