 Chamaecyparis obtusa (Japanese cypress, Hinoki
cypress or Hinoki) is a species of cypress native to central Japan. It
is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m
in diameter.
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, table tennis blades and
baths. 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".
Hinoki is considered the "golden" wood of
blades. It is also called "false cypress." As far as blade making goes,
hinoki has the property of being very soft with a nice soft touch in
short, but very fast when hitting. The biggest drawback is probably
weight, that is apart from it's scarcity and cost.
The standard Cypress wood used for table
tennis blades is not bad either, cheap and readily available. It tends
to work best with woods similar to itself in playing quality such as
ayous, ash and varieties of pine.
A number of blades pictures that use the
Kiso Hinoki wood are shown below:
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