Hinoki — Chamaecyparis obtusa
One of Japan's two great timbers and the historical material of palace, shrine, temple and bathhouse construction. Class 1 — Very Durable heartwood with the highest natural decay-resistance rating. Hinokitiol-driven, fragrant, and proven by temple structures standing more than a thousand years.
Hinoki products
Lining & cladding, rough-sawn joinery timber, and wellness-grade sauna stock — all from Japanese mill stock and machined to order in Brisbane.
Technical ReferenceSummary
Hinoki is, with Sugi, a representative tree species of Japan, and it has the country's second-largest plantation area. The Nihon Shoki, Japan's first authoritative history, records the instruction: "build a boat with Sugi or camphor tree, build a palace with Hinoki, and make a coffin with podocarpus." Hinoki has long been regarded as the perfect and best material for palace, shrine and temple construction.
Its heartwood is rated Class 1 — Very Durable, the highest natural durability rating on the international decay-resistance scale. This durability derives from a high concentration of hinokitiol and related terpene oils, which confer strong resistance to decay fungi, wood-destroying insects, and moisture ingress — performance borne out by temple structures standing more than a thousand years.
Class 1 of 4
Character & Appearance
The heartwood is pink; the sapwood is almost white. Hinoki carries a characteristic fragrance — clean, resinous, associated with Japanese bathhouse and temple interiors — and a sense of cleanliness in service.
Because the change in cell shape across the growth year is small, the annual ring is not prominent and the timber is homogeneous and dense. When properly finished, the surface is beautiful and glossy. Hinoki dries evenly and deep into the core — one folk etymology of the name is "fire tree," from its historical use in fire-making, evidence of how thoroughly it dries.
Species & General Properties
Mechanical & Physical Properties
| Property | Unseasoned | Seasoned |
|---|---|---|
| Specific gravity (air-dry) | — | 0.44 |
| Specific gravity range (dry) | — | 0.30 – 0.45 (avg. 0.38) |
| Shrinkage coefficient — radial | — | 0.12 % per 1% MC |
| Shrinkage coefficient — tangential | — | 0.23 % per 1% MC |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture) | — | 74 MPa |
| Longitudinal compressive strength | — | 39 MPa |
| Shear strength parallel to grain | — | 7.4 MPa |
| Modulus of elasticity in bending | — | 8.8 GPa |
Recommended Applications
Hinoki's Class 1 heartwood durability and dimensional stability make it suitable for demanding above-ground exterior applications as well as traditional fine-work interior and wet-area use. In Japan, the term "a house of Hinoki" is used as a synonym for a high-class house.
Specification Notes
- The Class 1 rating applies to heartwood only. Sapwood is not naturally durable and should be excluded, or confined to protected internal applications.
- Hinoki is not listed by name in AS 5604, which covers timbers commercially harvested in Australia. Class 1 status is specified by equivalence to the international decay-resistance scale, citing Scheffer & Morrell (1998) and the underlying Matsuoka et al. (1970) field-test data.
- Recommended spec wording: "Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa) heartwood — rated '1 — very resistant' per Scheffer & Morrell (1998); equivalent to AS 5604 Class 1 above-ground durability."
- Durability ratings address biological decay only. Bushfire performance (AS 3959, BAL ratings) is assessed independently and must be verified separately for applicable zones.
- Hinoki's Class 1 rating is strongest and best evidenced for above-ground exterior service — temple/shrine, cladding, wet area and bath applications.
References
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Cladding, joinery and bath/sauna stock dispatched from our Brisbane yard. All material from Japanese mills with full chain-of-custody documentation. Talk to us about sections, profile and lead time.