Cultivation and Uses
It is grown for its very high quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines, traditional noh theatres, baths, table tennis blades and masu. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant.
For example, Horyuji Temple and Osaka Castle are built from Hinoki wood. The hinoki grown in Kiso, used for building Ise Shrine, are called 御神木 Go-Shin-boku "Tree where god stayed".
It is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates, including western Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow leaves, and forms with congested foliage. It is also often grown as bonsai.
Hinoki (and sugi) pollen is a major cause of hay fever in Japan.
Read more about this topic: Chamaecyparis Obtusa
Famous quotes containing the word cultivation:
“If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself. Character is a by-product, and any man who devotes himself to its cultivation in his own case will become a selfish prig.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)