Yakusugi Museum, Yakushima Island Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

Rainmaker
Marietta, GA

Unique Architecture Pays Homage to a Unique Tree

nature lover, Wanderer, Love Japan

Pros

Gives insight and a bit of the story, English Booklets, Interesting Architecture

Cons

Must remove shoes

FEB

2008

Yakusugi Museum, Yakushima Island —

The forests where Yakusugi Cedar grows were the inspiration for the anime' Mononoke and the modern cylindrical buildings of this museum pay tribute to the history of this beautifu forest. Many trees are a thousand or more of years old. Some named trees are thought to be much older including Jomon Sugi, a tree know in the Edo Period and thought to be 6000-7000 years old, older than the Bristlecone Pine, once thought to be the oldest living thing.

The trees have seen periods of both harvest and preservation over the years. This type tree is particularly suited to make cedar shingles. The shingle is so finely cut that when it ages a little you would be certain that it is thick thatch rather than cedar shingle, but when you see a newer roof, if you look closely, you can tell that it is in fact hiragi, a special wood shingle. The museum has several dioramas and one is decicated to the production of hiragi.

The trees were seen as sacred during the period when the mythology of Mononoke was inspried, then Confucianism came to Japan influencing people to reject superstition. A period of heavy harvest ensued. Eventually the trees were again protected and sections of the forset are part of a World Heritage Site. There are a lot of giant stumps hundreds of years old remaining from a previous period of harvest. These stumps are made into small souvenirs, trinkets and charms, though I wasn't able to find a Mononoke trinket for a fan (It seems a little passe' in Japan, perhaps it is in the US as well).

There was a nice gift shop that you walk through in order to reach the Museum entrance and the nearby Wolrd Heritage site. There are large stumps outside the museum and you may recognize similarities to things you would see in the Redwood and Giant Sequoia forests of the United States. You will be asked to remove your shoes and wear the provided slippers on entry to the museum. This is much more common in temple than in museums. The floors here are made of Yakusigi blocks. Some tourists will bring their own slippers. If you were fitting this in after a hiking day, it might be a little unpleasant to put your shoes back on afterward. There is a booklet written in English that allows you to take a self guided tour.

All in all this was a very pleasant place to come and learn about the history of the island and the trees.

Yakusugi Museum, Yakushima Island is recommended by Rainmaker

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Comments about Rainmaker’s Review

In response to GeorgeChabot's comment from Feb 22, 2008 at 12:18PM:

Yes, thank you. This is Japan. I hadn't noticed that info doesn't show, it's part of the form...

Sounds interesting to visit. Is that Japan? I don't think you mentioned and Yakusigi just doesn't ring any bells.

That is an awesome picture of the stump. Sounds like a pretty cool place. Thanks for the review. Ooh and I like the idea of walking around in your socks or bare feet. I hope they clean the floors often.