A motokawashi peels Hinoki bark. Courtesy: [-kanjin-]
A craftsman called a *motokawashi* peels the outer bark of a living Hinoki from the base upward, in long strips, using a bark spud. He takes only the outer bark — leaving the inner bark undamaged.
The outer bark regrows in about ten years.
This practice, *hiwadabuki*, produces the traditional roofing material used in Japan's most significant sacred structures, including [Ise Jingū](https://www.tepluste.com/pages/hinoki-spiritual), where the 20-year cycle of renewal has continued for over 1,300 years.
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In 1923, Ise Jingū established its own forest management plan — to grow the Hinoki needed for the shrine entirely from its own sacred forests.
A Hinoki takes approximately 200 years to reach the size required for the shrine's main pillars. The trees planted under this plan will not be used in the lifetime of those who planted them. The craftsmen tending these forests now will not see them felled.
What remains, is the forest.
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Before a significant tree is cut in Japan, ceremony is held. A rope of folded paper is tied around the trunk. Sake is offered — purification, and a form of asking. A priest reads *norito*, a prayer.
This is practiced for large trees generally. The belief is not specific to Hinoki, but Hinoki — as the sacred material of Ise, the tree in which Amaterasu was first worshipped — holds a particular place within it.
Taking, with permission.
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This is the world our Hinoki comes from. Nothing added, nothing taken beyond what is given. We find it worth understanding.
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