Aroma from forest: extracting essential oil from Lindera praecox in Yadoriki

 

Last winter, when I had a chance to meet Prof. Kuramoto for Meiji University (; my post for March 29, 2026), he said for the sustainable management of forests it is crucial to find out ways to milk products from forest in a balanced manner. i.e. Nature-based solution. Rummaging our ancestral approach, using trees for artistic daily necessities could be a starting point. But, say, in the case of Kamakurabori, the traditional supply chain for supporting these beautiful wares is in a critical condition (; my post last week). Never mind. We are searching. Today is my adventure with another people who is experimenting with a different approach to creating product from material harvested from forests. They are in Yadoriki. What they are trying is extracting essential oils from trees in Yadoriki.

Kamakurabori products,
getting difficult to meet these days …

Essential oil is from European tradition. Having said that, identifying aromas from forests is not at all new for Japan. Traditionally, Japanese have manufacture incense from materials of forests. We have ways to wear scents by smoking clothes with incense. But this approach is very cumbersome, and difficult to take for this busy 21st century life, i.e. marketing such aroma is technical difficult. In contrast, European essential oil is easy to incorporate for modern living. These days, lavender oil is famous from Hokkaido. Hinokitior (beta-thujaplicin) already has boutiques in Tokyo. There are many other candidate trees as materials for fragrant oils. In Yadoriki, members of NPO Rok are searching for marketable essential oils extracted from trees found in Yadoriki. The other day, I had a chance to help their effort to extract oil from Lindera praecox.

The entrance for the warehouse of Rok

Lindera praecox is middle-sized shrubby deciduous tree in the family of Lauraceae, found in Japan and China. As in a family member of laurel, its entire body has woody and slightly sweet scent. It has round fruits which become dark brown (seemingly) hard nuts in autumn. I once tried to make it scented beads for neckless. Actually, its husk is very fragile. When I applied my hand drill to make a hole, the nut collapsed completely at once. My ambition was terminated easily … Traditionally, people used the Lindera praecox for lamp. The plant contains enough oil. Nuts were used for lanterns, and the bush was used for torch. In other words, we would be able to extract essential oil from it. Right? Several Japanese mountainous communities are experimenting to make the product from Lindera praecox (; one of the famous examples can be found here), if not taken off widely yet. Yadoriki too is trying.

We harvested this Linderae praecox
from a forest in Yadoriki.

Here

First, mince them in shredder.
Long stems are thrown in the machine.

The way to extricate the oil from Lindera praecox is the same for many other scented plants. We heat up harvested bush, a lot, with steam, and catch the oil from distillation. Rok has received a grant from the Prefectural Office and purchased a distillation system from a company in Kyoto for 600 thousand yen. So far they have tried several woods, hinoki cypress and the others, and provided floral water to Sento run by Matsuda Town. If the trial with Lindera praecox is successful enough for stable supply, it would be a new product from Yadoriki community. I had a chance to help them, a bit, for the cooking process of essential oil from the bush.

The leaves are also added.

The materials are packed
in this stock pot with double bottom.

First, the chips.

Then, the leaves.

And the chips are added, and the leaves, in layers.
The pot is literally “packed.”

The packed stockpot weighed 11.65kg.

The pot is ready to be steamed.

This is the distillation system.
The water is boiled in a brick kiln heated
by firewood which is another product from Rok.

Filling lower pot with water,

And pilling up the pot
with minced Lindera praecox.

Lastly, putting on a lid with pipes
to catch distilled fragrant water.

The fragrant water is
separated from essential oil here.

I was surprised in less than one hour, lots of fragrant water dripped from the system and rapidly filled up the tank to catch the water after extracting essential oil. I guess the necessary time to extract oil from the system depends on the plant we try to harvest the oil, and the condition of the plant and the weather of the day. As Lindera praecox is famous for its easiness to catch fire, the process started very soon and we observed the result quickly. Having said that, the amount of essential oil taken from 11.65Kg of the shrub was less than 50cc. Rok people said after the fire of the kiln died away, they left the system as such for at least one day and squeezed out the water with essential oil as much as possible. Finally, the oil in flask is separated from the water and the product is ready. i.e. the process takes at least 24 hours to be completed. No wonder true organic essential oil of any kind is expensive. But fragrant water, the by-product of the process, is useful to use as a room fragrance or bath scent. It’s not bad. As a product I think essential oil making is promising if the way to harvest the oil is on the track.

The floral water goes to the tank below.

About 4 hours later from the start of cooking.
The bubbly part inside the flask is
essential oil. How much will it go next day?

NPO Rok
特定非営利活動法人　仂

Yadoriki, Matsuda Town, Ashigara-kami Gun, Kanagawa
https://www.yadrok.com/

If you want to contact with Rok please send message from here

https://www.yadrok.com/%E3%81%8A%E5%95%8F%E3%81%84%E5%90%88%E3%82%8F%E3%81%9B

Lacquered Dragonfly: Kamakurabori lesson and Nature based solution 鎌倉彫

 

Once upon a time when people did not know plastics, woods were important materials to make daily-use tools, like dishes and boxes. In a long long history of human life, such usage of wood has often induced artistic creativity all over the world. We now have many kinds of beautiful boxes created by artists worldwide. So far, it’s obvious, right? Now let’s talk about the issue for 2026 in Japan. Yep, there is on-off opening of Strait of Hormuz. Petro can be hard to come by, and so easy availability of plastic tools would be problematic. Still, the demand for organic alternatives, for, say, wood trays, was not so much as before. Accordingly, demand for jobs of artists specialized in wood craft is limited at best. Perhaps, this also is the condition all over the world, I guess. The other day, I had a chance to chat with artists about this topic and realized such limited demand for traditional crafts has resulted in many consequences in its supply chain. Before going into the matter, let me tell you about my adventure of chatting with the artists. I was instructed to craft wood dragonfly in Kamakurabori by the artists for Kamakurabori. Curving an insect itself was fun, and you can also try it in Kamakura.

A corner found in Kamakura

Kamakurabori is curved lacquer ware made of Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum). The origin of this craft was imported Buddhist altar equipment during the 13th century from China. At that time, Kamakura was practically the capital city of Japan. It made the city a hub for talented sculptors who contributed to the construction of many temples in Kamakura. They saw beautiful imports and burst open their creativity which became called Kamakura-bori. During these 800 years, the technique expanded into not only altar equipment but also tools for daily life. It is still popular, I think. But not as before in Shogunate Period of 17th century. So, the union of Kamakurabori artists engages in public relations effort these days. Their activity hub is Kamakurabori Kogeikan and Kamakurabori Kaikan in Kamakura City. Both facilities are combination of museum + shop + seminar rooms. In these seminar rooms, they provide regular Kamakura-bori lessons. Some classes are arranged for tourists, domestic and international. If you’re interested in attending such opportunities, please make a contact with the addresses below and ask if their schedule matches with your own. I attended one of these lessons in Kamakurabori Kogeikan last month.

One of our household possessions of Kamakura-bori.
It’s a Kleenex box cover.

First, I have to assure you I’m a complete novice for wood curving. Still, their lesson was enjoyable for me. They prepared all the tools and materials to curve a small craft in 3 hours by an absolute newcomer. There were several choices, flowers, plants, and dragonfly, for what to curve. I chose a dragonfly.

What they have prepared for us.

First stick double sided tape, then

Locate the thing on a mini workbench like this.

The artists instructed us how to hold graver, and to start tracing the draft they provided on the material for us. The graver was a single-edged knife, so when we outlined, it made an angled cut. Next, we inserted our graver from the opposite direction. It created a curved line. The basics were just that, and we concentrated on graving for about 2 hours. Surprisingly, my dragonfly came out!

Hold the workbench like this.

The way to hold the graver is
the same for holding a pencil.

Getting there …

Done!
The one looks far smarter than mine on the right
is an example made by the pro.
No problem. Mine is still lovely.

Next, we lacquered our work with lacquer-like paint. When we want the real thing, it takes days to apply and process the lacquer painting which is beyond casual fun. We did not do it, but still mine looked authentic!

The workbench for lacquering

My dragonfly. Precious.

All were so fun, but daily life is hard. Using these everyday items made of Kamakurabori would be nice, but surely trays of Kamakurabori cannot be found in a dollar shop. As the demand has been dwindling, not only the Kamakurabori products but also its raw materials has become harder to obtain, the artists said. The most famous example is lacquer. Japan has many places where lacquer-ware is traditional specialty, including Kamakurabori for Kanagawa. But these days domestic supply of lacquer is just 9% of our total usage (as of November 2022). 91% is imports mainly from China. The texture cannot be the same as for the carvings of 17th century. The next problem is wood. Yes, there are lots of Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) in Japanese forest, but who would harvest them from hilly deep forests of Japan? Another problem is their size. Kamakurabori uses the center part of a trunk. Say, when we want to have 30cm diameter of a tray, the tree needs at least 60cm diameter. Unlike construction materials, concentric circle of wood grain is important for Kamakura-bori tray. So sawing up the material must be satisfied with such requirements, and hence the condition of original lumber. Unfortunately, it now becomes more and more difficult to secure a meaningful size of diameter. In addition, to find such suitable tree professional eyes are important. But as the demand for Kamakurabori goes down, pros with the skill also become a rare existence. The artists also pointed out that standard drying of construction lumber does not satisfy prerequisites for Kamakurabori materials. Katsura tree lumber must go through one or two more stages of drying in order to endure specific touches of Kamakurabori curving and several layers of lacquering. The skill to condition lumber with the process is hard to come by these days. The same story for swordsmith of graver, for charcoal powder and makomo powder for polishing the curved works …

Yes, there are
the other broad-leaved trees in Japanese forest.
But can they be for Kamakurabori?

The artists of Kamakurabori these days are trying to use the other trees, not Katsura, for their work, searching for the 21st century version of processing lumber for Kamakurabori, compounding alternatives for traditional lacquer, etc. etc. Yeah. It must be a part of creative destruction for human activity of production. We never know what will come out from such endeavor. I think one thing is sure: it will take time to have a new development of traditional Kamakurabori technique, which must include an establishment of the 21st century supply chain of materials. People may simply say Nature Based Solution will find a good hint from traditional artisanal approaches for what nature provides. But. Kamakurabori has been sustained by an entire supply chain from forests to Kleenex box cover, that has reached some optimal solutions after 800 years. Once it was broken, finding another optimum is not so easy. Nbs. Big matter in many senses.

Hand mirrors with Kamakurabori,
available in Kamakurabori Kogeikan

If you’re interested in Kamakurabori, please make contact with these two institutions. Both of them have nice shop for Kamakurabori. 😉

Kamakurabori Kaikan 鎌倉彫会館

2-15-13 Komachi, Kamakura, Kanagawa, 248-0006
〒248-0006 神奈川県鎌倉市小町2-15-13
Phone: 0467-25-1500
kyoudoukumiai@kamakuraborikaikan.jp
https://kamakuraborikaikan.jp/

Kamakurabori Kogeikan 鎌倉彫工芸館

3-4-7 Yuigahama, Kamakura, Kanagawa, 248-0014
〒248-0014 神奈川県鎌倉市由比ガ浜3-4-7
Phone: 0467-23-0154
https://www.kamakurabori-kougeikan.jp/

Far from Madding Crowd: Sengokubara Nature Trail 仙石原自然探勝道

 

Walking past the memorial for Kobokusha, the strolling path becomes wider. We’re going through Dai-Hakone Country Club where sometimes PGA tournaments are held. Over the course on our left, there is a peculiar rock exposed on the slope of Mt. Marudake (丸岳 ASL 1156m). It has name, Daruma Rock. Long long before beyond human memory, it was supposed to be on the outer rim of Hakone Crater. Time made the rim fragile and slope failure occurred. That rock tumbled down from the ridge and situated itself there. On our right from the path is still smoke-billowing Owakudani. Hakone is actually an active volcano. We walk over a small bridge on a stream. In no time there comes a sign on our right saying “Sengokubara Shizen Tansho-do (Sengokubara Nature Trail 仙石原自然探勝道), This way.” Please depart from the cycling road and dive in it.

Daruma Rock beyond the golf course

A robot golf cart can come out.

A small stream down from our left

Adelante, por favor.

On our right it appears the signpost.

First 20m or so of this way is along the country club. Utility entrance for the golf course runs along the trail, but on our left, there is an ancient stone paved way which is typical of Hakone (; my posts for February 5 to March 5, 2021). This time, the terrain is FLAT! If you try this ancient civil engineering with your toddler, this section could be an ideal beginner’s entrance. I just wonder why such elaboration must have been done for mountain road 400 years ago … Probably, the route was a part of highway coming from Gotemba City 御殿場 on the slope of Mt. Fuji, via Nagao Pass 長尾峠 (ASL 911m), and reaching to Sengokubara Town. The community of Sengokubara still holds such traditional connections with Gotemba. I’ll tell you about it by the end of this month. 😉

Ancient and new roads

The flat paved way

This route is, for the first time for today’s itinerary, really a narrow trekking road in a forest. Yet, there are not many ups and downs. The paved ancient road eventually goes through a high wall of sasa-bamboos. They are Hakone-dake, Pleioblastus chino f. vaginatus, a very close relative for Azuma-nezasa, Pleioblastus chino (Franch. et Savat.) Makino var. viridis (Makino) Sad.Suzuki. Azuma-nezasa is ubiquitous in east Japan. Hakone-dake is found mainly in Hakone. Some say the plant is Hakone endemic, but genetic analysis seems to me does not endorse this claim. Still, the overall look of Hakone-dake is definitely slimer. The leaves of Hakone-dake are slenderer than their relatives in Yokohama. Once Botanist Mr. Teruo Katsuyama told me about any plants with name “Hakone” is slimmer or smaller than their relative in the world below. His guess was, due to colder climate in Hakone despite its latitude plants evolutionary adjusted their characteristics to their environment. For a kind of evidence of his conjecture, Hakone-dake can be found only in the forest where human afforestation took minimum even in Hakone. They have been there for centuries.

A small stream flows
in the field of Hakone-dake.

An ancient road goes through
an old field of Hakone-dake.

We soon find ourselves on a way running along Hayakawa River. Hello again! By this point, the River has enough water that would be difficult to be dried up. Basically, Hakone is a place where it rains a lot. Although the size of the river is not large enough to sustain population of Odawara, Hayakawa River keeps on going as river. We go ahead and cross Hayakawa River. After departing the field of Hakone-dake, I noticed there are lots of deciduous trees, like Maples and Bridal wreath, that will turn colors when autumn comes. During early summer with fresh verdure, it is an attractive enough strolling path. And the course will be impressive in fall. After crossing Hayakawa River, the route has a bit of going up with stone pavement. Then it becomes a comfortable stroll in beautiful forest. The exit of this trail is called Tsutsuji (Azalea) Street where in May many homes compete for flowering shrubs in their garden. After the housing area we find ourselves the road Shitsugen (Wetland) Street running in front of Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands (; my post for May 5, 2023). From the start of Kojiri Watergate, it is a leisurely walk of less than 3 hours. If you do not intend to go mountaineering, or want to avoid crowds of tourists in Hakone, this is a relaxing itinerary, especially with kids. Please try.

Hayakawa River again

We cross the bridge.

Beautiful early summer stroll

Ancient trekking path

The exit for the trail

Azalea Street in May 2026

Hakone Town Hall 箱根町役場

256 Yumoto, Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo-gun,
Kanagawa 250-0398
〒250-0398 神奈川県足柄下郡箱根町湯本256

Phone: 0460-85-7111
https://www.hakone.or.jp/