Japan’s 600-year-old method harvests timber without cutting trees
Daisugi is a 600-year-old Japanese forestry technique that allows for the harvesting of timber without cutting down the entire tree. By pruning cedar trees to grow vertical trunks, foresters can produce sustainable wood while preserving the root system.
Why it matters
As global deforestation rates remain high, this ancient method offers a viable, sustainable model for modern forestry and carbon sequestration.
Timber is one of the biggest reasons trees are cut down all over the world. However, in Japan, a country focused on sustainability, an ancient forestry technique called Daisugi harvests timber without cutting the tree.The method began around 14th century in Kyoto Prefecture. Foresters carefully prune the tree so that it keeps growing while producing new straight trunks that can later be cut down for timber.Daisugi was developed in Japan to solve the growing demand for tinder. But the country's limited land area made it difficult to grow more cedar trees.
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