屋久杉 【パワーズウッド】

屋久杉

屋久杉は、鹿児島県屋久島に自生する杉の内、樹齢が1000年を超えたものを指します。
地質や多雨、島の強風やシカの生息に対応した杉は、抗菌性のある樹脂を通常のスギの6倍ほど分泌しているため、地質によって成長は非常に遅いが、長く成長するという性質をもっています。
抗菌性に優れ、耐久性もあることから、安土桃山時代には大仏殿の建設に使用されたといわれています。

Yakushima was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1933.
It is a natural heritage famous because there is a Jomon cedar (Jomon period, Japanese prehistory, traditionally dated between c. 14,000–300 BCE,) of an estimated age of 72,200 years, and it is said that it is an island which becomes the southern limit of the cedar of Japan.
It is said that the special natural environment of Yakushima, which is blessed with rain, are the result of cedars so old, the peculiarity is that there are a lot of Yakusugi 2000 or 3000 years old, when in generally cedar grown for about 300 years only.
The ground of Yakushima is based on granite, so the nutritious elements are less than other place, and the cedar growth is slower than in other areas. Then, the width of the ring becomes dense, and the timber grows hard.
By doing so, resins with antiseptic and insect repellent effects are produced many times more as the ordinary cedars. Therefore, Yakusugi can continue to live without timeless for a long time.
Yakushima is called the Galapagos of the East
Only cedars that are more than 1,000 years old are called Yakusugi, and cedars less than 1000 years old are distinguished and are called Kosugi.
Yakusugi grows from 600m to 1300m high.
The most amounts of huge cedars are around 1200m high.
Yakushima is an ancient forest with strong vitality that has been ingested from generation to generation, and it is said to be a holy place that have pure energy that dwells on it.