Anyone know much about Japanese Cypress?

[ArmsTom]

I'm looking to start on my next project and, traditionally, it's made from Japanese Cypress. I've been looking around for someplace and haven't been able to find it. Anyone know the cost (if you're able, relative to good quality basswood) and where to pick it up? Online maybe? If it's tough to get a hold of, what's comparable to it? Thanks a lot for your help.

[whitecree]

I tried a google on this, and kept coming up some really weird sites that felt like they were looking to take something away from me, so I bailed out.

Would regular cypress work for you?

[ArmsTom]

I'm not even a little familiar with what kind of wood Japanese Cypress is to make any comparison.

I tried searching Google too and came up with all kinds of crazy things. Thanks for looking. ;-)

[Just Carving]

My guess is that it is native to Japan, and there isn't much of a need for it here--especially with the environmental issues of importing lumber. Here's some info on the wood itself. Maybe using the different names that are provided might give you some leads to acquiring the wood. I noticed white cedar being used as a common name. Maybe that might be a clue right there.

http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Cypress#Great_Japanese_Cypress

Great Japanese Cypress

Great Japanese Cypress (Cupressus Obtusa) - A very beautiful evergreen tree of the mountains of Japan, better known in our gardens under the wrong name of Retinospora. It has many forms and so-called varieties which are really states of growth only, and which are nearly always grown in nurseries under the name of "Retinospora." The confusion of names in this plant and its varieties has caused its great value as a tree to be overlooked. It grows nearly 100 feet high, and is very handsome. In its own country it is much used to form avenues.

http://allallergy.net/fapaidfind.cfm?cdeoc=4748

Japanese cypress tree / False cypress tree

Background Info:
Common Names: Japanese Cypress, Hinoki Cypress, False Cypress, Hinoki Falsecypress, White Cedar, Finuchi (Japanese)

Closely related species:
C. taiwanensis
C. pisifera
C. formosensis
C. formosana

Japanese Cypress is an evergreen tree native to Japan and found most frequently in Southern Japan and in Taiwan (though it has been exported to many other temperate regions). It is a narrow, loosely conical tree with foliage that ranges from deep blue to bright golden-yellow.

It grows to 40m high and 3m in diameter, with a straight trunk and reddish-brown, shredding fibrous bark, fissured into thin strips, and pendulous branches. The tree has a narrow pyramidal crown. The branchlets are slender, closely arranged in one horizontal plane. The closely pressed, scale-like leaves are of 2 sizes and shapes. They have white X-shaped markings underneath. The cones are small and 8-scaled. The yellow-flowered tree is monoecious (having separate male and female reproductive organs on the same plant). It is in flower in May and June.

This Cypress, rare in natural forests, is in extensive landscape use in Japan and Taiwan. It is found both in mass plantings and in gardens, where dwarf forms are popular. It can be used as a specimen plant, an accent in a border planting, and a 'bonsai' tree.

The timber is prized and has often been used in traditional Japanese architecture, in temples and baths as well as homes. It is often the material of furniture and implements.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Wow! Sounds rare and expensive! you might want to try another species. Could be cost prohibitive even if you can get it.

[ArmsTom]

Thanks a lot for the info! Based on the little looking I've done, I probably can't easily (and cheaply) get Japanese Cypress, I might be able to get something close to. Anyway, glad to have a direction to go in. :-)

[whitecree]

Then you might want to look into yellow/white/alaska cedar. Easier to find and no doubt cheaper than the Japanese cypress.