SINGAPORE — The mountains of central Nara Prefecture house the human-made Yoshino forests grown over 500 years ago. Considered to be one of the world’s oldest afforested plantations, the Yoshino forests are praised by residents and visitors for reflecting the Japanese people’s innate belief in preserving harmony between humans and nature; its embodiment of this perfect equilibrium can be felt when walking through the forests’ carefully preserved paths
As some of the oldest planted trees that are still being cared for today, many of the Yoshino trees (including Cypress, Cedar, Cherry, and Horse Chestnut) are over 300 years old. They have grown well over 30 metres in height, with trunk diameters of up to 3 metres. By virtue of Yoshino’s optimal climate and abundance of natural resources, its timber combines great beauty and diversity of form, which is evident in its tough adaptability, textures that are soft and warm to the hand, uniform and straight trunks, and antibacterial qualities. The forests’ Cedar and Cypress timber, in particular, are known globally for their superior calibre.
Residents of the region have lived in harmony with nature long before the concept of sustainability entered the public consciousness. This practice carries through to the manufacturing process, where timber ends trimmed away during lumber production for architecture, furniture, and lifestyle products are used to make chopsticks, ensuring that every bit of Yoshino’s precious timber is utilised.
In a joint ambition to preserve inherited traditions and revitalise the industry with novel, sustainable concepts and techniques, a dedicated community comprising the craftspeople, manufacturers and the local forestry industry has since been established. They have recognised the need for innovation, and diversification of the uses of Yoshino Wood. Banding together to evolve, the community now looks beyond resolving isolated issues, and embraces their challenges with circularity.
The third edition of INTO THE WOODS introduces the ideas of a new generation of craftspeople dedicated to preserving the Yoshino forests, innovating to evolve their crafts and industries, and diving deep into their crafts and thought processes. Crafted from Yoshino Nature draws our attention to their products—birthed from the perfect union of Nature and Human—which were created to bring us the beauty of Yoshino Wood, and back into the cycle of forming our own relationships with nature.
INTO THE WOODS: Crafted from Yoshino Nature will open at LUMINE SINGAPORE on 26 November 2021, and will run through 5th January 2022, 11am to 10pm daily.
