Shou Sugi Ban 101 – Nakamoto Forestry

Confused about authentic yakisugi “shou sugi ban”, or charred wood siding in general? Don’t fret. We know it can be confusing and we’re here to help. Interested customers ask us a variety of questions every day, so we figured it was time to put together a beginner’s guide.

*Note: This is simply an entry point to some of the most common questions our customers ask. This is not a comprehensive guide by any means. But it will help set you up to use yakisugi for whatever project you’ve got in mind. We’ve also included plenty of links to further reading, if you so choose. Let’s dive in!

What is Yakisugi “Shou Sugi Ban”?

Yakisugi is a thin plank of softwood siding and paneling heat treated in a traditional Japanese process. Yaki means burnt, charred, or heat-treated, and sugi refers to a native species of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica). Flame-treatment improves the wood’s resistance to rot, UV, moisture, fire, insects, and dimensional movement versus untreated wood siding. Yakisugi cladding also offers a timeless beauty that is readily adaptable to different projects.

Read more about: What Is Shou Sugi Ban (Yakisugi)?

YouTube: What Is Yakisugi? 

Yakisugi or Shou Sugi Ban – Which is it?

Great question! In Japan (where the product originated and where 90% of worldwide consumption still resides, everyone calls it yakisugi. In the West, however, someone misread the word as “shou sugi ban” and then it was further amplified by a New York Times article. This left us caught between our traditional roots (yakisugi) versus playing along for the SEO long game. Shou sugi ban is a ludicrous word in Japanese so this is a tough one. Read more in our blog post about distinguishing the use cases for shou sugi ban and yakisugi.

How Do You Make Shou Sugi Ban?

Historically, yakisugi was made directly at the jobsite by the carpentry crew. However, the charring process has been refined and improved after transitioning manufacturing to lumber mills. This evolution has led to yakisugi products that can offer increased longevity and dimensional stability for both interior and exterior designs.

Today, authentic yakisugi is made by harvesting native cedar trees in Japan, milling them to spec and then burning them using a kiln. It can optionally be brushed down and/or finished with an oil coating before being shipped to the desired destination.

Check out this From Our Forest To Your Walls video. It briefly breaks down each stage of the process.

Where Does Shou Sugi Ban Come From?

Authentic yakisugi “shou sugi ban” comes from Japan!

Is Shou Sugi Ban Sustainable?

Wood and Shou Sugi Ban Sustainability

Aside from maybe a locally-sourced stone facade, wood is the most sustainable material compared to every other cladding product commonly available in construction. This really is the BIG ONE on the entire sustainability conversation. Consider greenhouse gases produced from any other cladding material (such as PVC, steel, or brick) it doesn’t even compare. Natural solid sawn wood is better for your health and for the environment, full stop.

In terms of yakisugi sustainability in general, there are a few important points most people don’t realize. First of all the lumber market is international due to efficient marine freight; we can deliver wood from Japan to most projects with similar carbon footprint as regional lumber. Second, yakisugi is less carbon-intensive to manufacture compared to regular siding since it does not need to be highly surfaced. Even further, yakisugi’s two minutes of recirculating-type kiln burning uses much less energy than the week-long kiln drying process that regular wood siding products go through to be case hardened for dimensional stability. Finally, it is important to understand that the burning process is designed to be in lieu of an oil or paint finish, so that part of the manufacturing or build process can be skipped.

Nakamoto Forestry Thoughts and Practices towards Sustainability

Over the years we have adapted our timberland management, manufacturing practices, and distribution setup to align with our core mission of permanent sustainability and more recently our staff’s real concerns about climate change.

Sustainability involves a great deal of careful planning and execution, as well as certifications. It starts with timberland management planning based on the most recent and comprehensive science, from seedling cultivar selection to watershed protection to a longer harvest cycle of 100 years.

Nakamoto Forestry’s Manufacturing Process vs. Others

In terms of the manufacturing process, we:

• Air dry our lumber instead of kiln drying
• Use kilns that have afterburner engineering to minimize natural gas consumption
• Use low-to-zero VOC (solvent) finishes
• Bring logs in from nearby our mills and ship to the West from a port near our Tokushima mill

Ocean freight is the most energy-efficient method of cargo transportation. We can beat North American mills on carbon footprint since they’re trucking in logs from farther away and transporting cants (partially sawn logs) from mill to mill and selling through tiered distribution.

As far as we know, we are the only yakisugi mill that has made the effort to become sustainability certified (under strict PEFC chain of custody parameters), have carbon footprints calculated for all of our products, and offer a Environmental Product Declaration for all of our products. The effort and expense for this array of data and compliance simply does not pencil out in the lumber business and can only be explained by authentic environmentalist credibility.

Check out our wood siding sustainability page for the full scoop on this topic.

Shou Sugi Ban Maintenance: How Much is Required?

This depends on whether the owner is okay with color change or not. Historically in Japan, no maintenance is done on yakisugi siding until it starts to fall apart after about a hundred years, at which time it is patched or replaced. On average in both Japan and North America structures do not stand this long–so keep this in mind. Over time, yakisugi weathers from the elements, creating a beautiful patina, or wabi-sabi aesthetic. To help maintain yakisugi’s original color and appearance, an oil finish can be applied and freshened up as needed. 

In the West, fresh color via re-oiling is the cultural norm. Westerners typically do not want to see any signs of aging due to a re-painting culture. Color longevity is the main subject, but also regular re-oiling will allow the siding to last longer.

The only other maintenance we recommend is to tighten up fasteners after a few years and then every decade or two over time. The substrate and siding will move due to weather and will pull out the fasteners little by little. So gently tapping them back in with a hammer will return the siding to a flat plane again. But again, this is also optional and often unnecessary.

During and After Installation Will Soot Come Off on Us?

Yes during installation, but not afterwards. The carpenters will get soot on their hands during installation (and they will learn quickly not to rub their noses). All of our products (other than unoiled Gendai) have an oil finish that helps to adhere the soot layer to the wood. Soot will get all over the oiled board faces during installation so we recommend washing the walls down with a hose or sopping wet rag as the final step. After that, no sootiness.

 Here’s a 60 second video from Morlock Timber that clears it up nicely.

How Many Shou Sugi Ban Options Do you Have?

Let’s break it down:

We offer five traditional surface types. We call them Sugi, Suyaki, Gendai, Pika-Pika and Hinoki.

After selecting a product, customers can choose from a selection of custom finish coating options. Not all surface types have all color options available, but there are plenty of combinations to choose from to find your desired look. Review our finish options page to see all available coatings and colors for each surface type.

Third, choose which wood grade you want: standard select or JOKO premium clear. The difference is with knots, or with no knots.

Finally, decide what board width you want and if you want a shiplap or square edge profile for your layout design. Please contact us to receive installation diagram options for various layout examples to help decide. Note often orders are a combination, with shiplap as the field profile and square edge used for trim or louvered screen. Our most popular profile is 1×6 shiplap but we regularly see every choice there is.

Please note: often orders are a combination, with shiplap as the field profile and square edge used for trim or louvered screen. Our most popular profile is 1×6 shiplap but we regularly see every choice there is.

Have More Questions About Shou Sugi Ban?

First, visit our FAQ page. Also, head over to our YouTube channel for more visual information on specific topics. And be sure to follow us on Instagram for even more nuanced information on the topics of authentic yakisugi siding and Japanese culture in general–or simply to gain inspiration from the designs of our customers. 

We get a ton of questions about yakisugi “shou sugi ban”. People are nervous about what they read online since it’s considered an “exotic” material and so many online resources are questionable. Yakisugi has an interesting history and people want to talk with us as representatives from Japan. And we don’t blame them! Personally, I remember my first day at Nakamoto Forestry several years ago. I was completely lost. But after reading a handful of blogs, scrolling through our social media and beginning to do research on a bunch of different topics, I eventually got my bearings. If I can do it, so can you. If I didn’t cover your question in this introduction, please feel free to reach out – that’s what we’re here for!

What Else Should I Know?

We recommend diving into our website and learning as much as you can from our various articles, blogs and educational content! Yakisugi is a broad topic that we could talk about all day. Here are some handy topics for further reading to get started:

– Top 10 Myths About Shou Sugi Ban (Yakisugi) 

– Rainscreen (please install)

– Other maintenance (mostly for homeowners)