ご参加ありがとうございました！～杉皮探求ツアー開催レポート～
- 3 日前
- 読了時間: 7分
2026年8月7日（金）・8日（土）の2日間、私たち森庄銘木産業株式会社（奈良県宇陀市）は、100年以上育った吉野杉林を舞台に「杉皮探求ツアー」を開催しました。
一般公募でお集まりいただいた一般参加者の方、建築設計者、工務店、地域づくり・まちづくりに携わる方など、合計29名にご参加いただきました。奈良県内外はもちろん、遠くは横浜市（神奈川県）や飛騨市（岐阜県）からもお越しいただき、杉皮という素材への関心の高さを改めて実感するツアーとなりました。
↑吉野杉林での伐倒・杉皮採取の様子
Q 杉皮って、どんな素材？
杉皮は、茶室や数寄屋建築、寺社建築など、日本の伝統建築を長く支えてきた自然素材です。
↑杉皮施工事例
杉皮が収穫ができるのは樹木の成長期にあたる季節の中でも夏のほんの短い期間だけ。雑節でいう「夏の土用」前後の約3週間ほどしかありません。今、奈良県内で杉皮を生産している事業者は、私たちが把握している限りわずか数社。生産の現場を一般の方が見学したり、実際に杉皮剥きを体験できたりする機会は、ほとんどないのが実情です。
両日とも、吉野杉林に入り、実際の伐倒現場や杉皮の採取を見学していただいたほか、参加者の皆さんご自身にも杉皮剥きを体験していただきました。
丹精込めて育ててきた山に分け入り、杉皮を剥くときの香りや手触り、木が倒れる瞬間の迫力――そうしたものを、五感で感じていただけたのではないかと思います。山の中でのランチを挟みながら、森庄銘木の銘木倉庫や杉皮倉庫、ものづくりの現場も見学いただき、森林資源が日本の建築文化を支える素材へと姿を変えていく「山から建築まで」の流れを、一緒にたどりました。参加者の皆さんからは活発な質問が飛び交い、最後まで熱心に見学・体験してくださっていたのが印象的でした。
▶専務より振り返り「ご参加ありがとうございました！」
杉皮は、日本の建築文化を支えてきた大切な自然素材ですが、その背景にある森づくりまで知る機会はほとんどありません。100年という時間をかけて育てた森と、一本の木を最後まで使い切る日本の知恵を、五感で感じていただきたいと思い企画しました。年に数日しかない杉皮の収穫期に、丹精込めて育てている山へ入り、実際に杉皮を剥き、その香りや手触り、伐倒の瞬間などを体感していただけたのではないかと思います。山での体験や、森でのお弁当、ものづくりの現場見学を通して、森から暮らしへとつながる一本のストーリーを感じていただけたのではないでしょうか。 また近年、脱炭素社会や自然共生への関心が高まる一方で、森林や木材に触れる機会は都市部を中心に少なくなっています。建築に携わる方であっても、木材がどんな森で育ち、どんな人の手を経て建築材料になっていくのかを知る機会は、実はそれほど多くありません。森庄銘木では「先ずは知っていただく」という考えのもと、森林・木材・建築をつなぐ体験型ツアーを継続的に開催していきます。今回の杉皮探求ツアーも、その一環として企画したもので、また来年もやりたいと思います。ご参加くださった皆さま、改めてありがとうございました！
実施概要
名称：杉皮探求ツアー
日時：2026年8月7日（金）・8日（土） 各日10:00〜15:00（2日間開催）
会場：森庄銘木産業株式会社（奈良県宇陀市）10:00〜15:00
参加者：合計29名（一般参加者、建築関係者、工務店、設計者、地域・まちづくり関係者など／奈良県内外、遠方は横浜市・飛騨市からも参加）
内容：
銘木倉庫・杉皮倉庫見学 10:00〜11:45
山の中でのランチ・吉野杉林見学と杉皮収穫体験 12:00〜14:15
振り返り 14:30〜15:00
森庄銘木産業株式会社では、これからも森林・木材・建築をつなぐ体験型ツアーを継続的に企画し、日本の伝統建築を支える自然素材や森林資源の循環について、広く発信してまいります。次回の開催情報は、HP並びにInstagram（@yamanaramorisho）でもいち早くお知らせしていますので、ぜひフォローしてお待ちください。 Sugi Bark Exploration Tour 2026 — Connecting Forests, Craftsmanship, and Japanese Architecture
On August 7 and 8, 2026, Morisho Meiboku Sangyo Co., Ltd., based in Uda City, Nara Prefecture, hosted our “Sugi Bark Exploration Tour” in a Yoshino cedar forest where the trees have been carefully cultivated for more than 100 years.
A total of 29 participants joined us over the two days, including members of the general public, architects and designers, builders, and professionals involved in community development and regional revitalization.
Participants came not only from within Nara Prefecture but also from across Japan, including as far away as Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture and Hida City in Gifu Prefecture. Their enthusiasm reminded us once again of the growing interest in sugi bark and the culture surrounding this traditional Japanese material.
↑ Felling Yoshino cedar trees and harvesting sugi bark in the forest
What is Sugi Bark?
Sugi bark is the natural outer bark of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica). For centuries, it has been used in traditional Japanese architecture, including tea houses, sukiya-style buildings, temples, and shrines.
↑ Example of sugi bark used in architecture
Sugi bark can only be harvested during a very short period in summer, when the trees are actively growing and the bark can be carefully peeled from the trunk. Traditionally, the ideal harvesting period falls around the “Doyo” period of summer, lasting only about three weeks.
Today, as far as we are aware, only a handful of businesses in Nara Prefecture continue to produce sugi bark. Opportunities for the general public to visit an actual harvesting site—or to experience peeling the bark themselves—are extremely rare.
On both days of the tour, participants entered a Yoshino cedar forest to observe tree felling and the traditional bark-harvesting process firsthand. They were also given the opportunity to peel sugi bark themselves.
Walking through a forest that has been carefully tended for generations, participants experienced the fragrance and texture of freshly peeled cedar bark and the powerful moment when a tree is felled.
After enjoying lunch in the forest, the group also visited Morisho’s warehouses for traditional decorative timber and sugi bark, as well as our production facilities.
Through these experiences, participants were able to follow the entire journey “from forest to architecture”—seeing how forest resources are transformed into materials that have supported Japanese architecture and culture for generations.
We were especially pleased to see so many questions being asked throughout the tour and the genuine curiosity and enthusiasm of everyone who participated.
A Message from Our Executive Director
Thank you very much to everyone who joined us!
Sugi bark is an important natural material that has supported Japanese architectural culture for centuries. However, there are very few opportunities today to learn about the forests and the generations of work behind this material.
We organized this tour because we wanted people to experience, through all five senses, both the 100 years of time invested in growing these forests and the Japanese wisdom of making full use of each tree.
During the brief bark-harvesting season, participants entered forests that our predecessors and our own generation have carefully nurtured. They peeled the bark themselves and experienced its fragrance and texture, as well as the extraordinary moment of witnessing a tree being felled.
From the forest experience and lunch among the trees to visits to our workshops and warehouses, we hope everyone was able to discover a single story connecting the forest to our everyday lives.
In recent years, interest in decarbonization and nature-positive initiatives has continued to grow. At the same time, however, opportunities to experience forests and wood firsthand are becoming increasingly limited, particularly for people living in urban areas.
Even professionals working in architecture do not always have the opportunity to see where timber grows, how forests are managed, or how many people are involved before a tree becomes an architectural material.
At Morisho, one of our guiding principles is simple:
“First, we want people to know.”
With this philosophy, we will continue to organize experiential tours that connect forests, timber, architecture, and people.
The Sugi Bark Exploration Tour is one part of this initiative, and we hope to hold it again next year.
Once again, thank you very much to everyone who joined us!
Tour Overview
Tour: Sugi Bark Exploration Tour
Dates: Friday, August 7 & Saturday, August 8, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. each day
Location: Morisho Meiboku Sangyo Co., Ltd., Uda City, Nara Prefecture, Japan
Participants: 29 people in total, including members of the general public, architects, designers, builders, and professionals involved in regional and community development. Participants traveled from across Japan, including Yokohama and Hida.
Program
10:00–11:45
Tour of our traditional decorative timber and sugi bark warehouses
12:00–2:15
Lunch in the forest, Yoshino cedar forest tour, and hands-on sugi bark harvesting experience
2:30–3:00
Reflection and closing session
Morisho Meiboku Sangyo Co., Ltd. will continue to create experiential programs that connect forests, timber, and architecture, while sharing the value of natural materials, traditional Japanese craftsmanship, and the sustainable use of forest resources with people in Japan and around the world.
Information about upcoming tours and events will be announced on our website and Instagram @yamanaramorisho. We look forward to welcoming you to our forests in Nara.
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