For a description of the essences we use to build ofuros, please read the description below. (or return to the category: our woods and scroll down) Note that we may also have the availability of Koya-maki wood or knotty hinoki but these are becoming rarer. For a more compact, printer-friendly version, check our download area and select the document on top of the list (1)
Lastly, note that we only use japanese woods. we cannot make ofuros in teak or port orford cedar. Also, pine is not suitable to make ofuros because it bends easily with changes of humidity and it produces discharges of resin.
If you need samples, please contact me by email at japan@bartokdesign.com specifying your preferred shipping address.
I was told that sawara has poor durability compared to hinoki and kouyamaki is better durability,…
can you clarify?
which is better for longevity and mold resistance and cracking?
Hinoki contains more aromatic oil than sawara so in a test environment it can be said that it is more resistant…
Anyway the secret to have a long lasting ofuro is love and care.
Like a nice pair of leather shoes: it is smart to prevent problems with a constant even if easy maintenance.
In case you need to repair a problem it will be costly and time consuming and you will never be able to restore the original condition 100%.
It does not matter too much which type of wood you use. Just avoid contact with soap and dry condition. And ventilate well to avoid mold.
It is that simple.
As the famous movie title goes “Some like it hot”. Some like it “large”, some like it “small”. At Bartok design we produce custom made ofuros without the “custom made” option cost! Said that our most convenient deals are of course in the “outlet tub” corner. Immaculate brand new, never used ofuros either resulting from clients changing their mind or produced in between orders thus optimizing the costs beyond the reasonable.
In the case of outlet ofuros, of course, you cannot change the size but who knows: sometimes the perfect match comes as a gift from the destiny!
Some like it curvy like Sofia Loren who stated: “everything you see I owe it to pasta”. Some like it minimal like Kate Moss and the contrast between the minuteness of her body and the depth of her eyes.
This outlet tub is definitely the Kate Moss type. It uses the most refined hinoki lumber, has a very compact size but is deep inside: offering a perfect comfort even in a tiny bathroom space. The quintessential 0 size!
Hinoki Esential Oil is both calming and uplifting. Like the scent of a forest on a warm summer day, the scent of Hinoki is earthy, lemony, fresh.
Our original Bartok design Hinoki Essential Oil is the purest you will find. We extract the oil ourselves from off-cuts, shavings and wood chips – all real wood. There are no twigs, leaves or bark in our product resulting in a pure clean scent that is unparalleled. The complexity of our oils is exceptionally deep.
Hinoki Essential Oil made by Bartok designThe Bartok design Pocket Onsen set is a gift box ready for holiday giving
The Bartok design Pocket Onsen Set contains a choice of two oils:
Hinoki Cypress is extracted from trees roughly 40 years old. A ‘young tree’ used in construction, for decorative items, religious artefacts and furniture. Our bath accessories are made from this wood which gives us a good supply of offcuts from which to extract the gorgeous essential oil.
Special Reserve Hinoki 250 is extracted from mature growth trees, usually at least 250 years old. The wood from older trees is compacted tightly which makes it ideal for use in wet zones such as the bathroom. Therefore we use this wood to make our Japanese ‘ofuro’ soaking tubs. Like a fine wine, cheese or whiskey, the aged product has a complexity and depth not seen in younger wood.
*It is also possible to order a ‘compare set’ with one of each oil.
Instant Onsenspecial reserve hinoki 250 years oil made in japanHinoki Japanese Cypress extracted and bottled by Bartok designEach Pocket Onsen set comes with three orbs made from hinoki.
Our friends at Nora Studios sent us a few of the preliminary photos of a recent bathroom installation. It’s stunningly beautiful. The contrast of warm wood and cool stone is magnificent.
Ofuro specs: japanese Knotless hinoki wood bathtub (quarter-sawn) dim L1060 x W660 x H629mm (ext. dim.) 570mm(deep) nat. oil @ apron, wood dowels. Iron brand at front side top-right (Accessories are available from our shop)
It is difficult to understand it from the pictures as the sizes are so laser-perfect… but the tub feet are recessed in a ditch which collects the drain water as well as the overflow. Amazing detailing!
According to the client, the installation is still incomplete: the shower glass partition is missing and the faucet inside the spout needs to be modified. Also the lighting fixtures are still missing – but since the boreal spring provides some light until late in the evening, the ofuro is already operational. Well, this space seems already PERFECT to me ! I cannot imagine how it will be when it is complete with all the bells and whistles!
from the window. A tropical heaven overlooking a Norwegian fjord!look at the water droplets! this picture is so inspiring!what a wonderful smile! Natural? Hinoki induced?
This beautiful bathroom was designed by Oslo architects Skajaa Arkitektkontor, outstanding job!
According to the newspaper it’s popular among tourists to hike the Nakasendo trail between Magome and Tsumago post towns. We opted for the easy way – rented a car. But still, the views were stunning and having a car afforded us the opportunity to see more than just the trail towns.
The Nakasendo is an ancient foot highway that connected Tokyo (or Edo as it was known then) with the rest of Japan to the west. Follow the whole road and you will eventually arrive in Kyoto. It dates back to the 1700s.
Our interest in this area stems from two things: we enjoy learning about and appreciating Japanese history; and we are enamoured with the forests of Japan. The portion of the Nakasendo which is best preserved is in a geographic area called the Kiso Valley. In this area you will see the massive forests of conifer trees, Japanese hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa), sawara (Chamaecyparis pisifera ). These are just two of the Five Sacred Trees of Kiso which are favoured by bathmakers.
We started our trip in Nagoya, which is centrally located between Osaka and Tokyo. It made a convenient meeting point for our party of three. Getting an early start towards Gifu prefecture was made easier for being only an hour or so away.
Day One
We took an express train from Nagoya station to Ena station. We had arranged to pick up our car from Ena. The map showed where the rental place was but we were not sure if it was walkable or a taxi was a better idea. Calling into the Ena Tourist Information centre gave us our answer (taxi) and a whole host of other information.
Following the advice of the Tourist Info Centre, we spent the morning walking along a part of the Nakasendo that isn’t as well preserved as what we would later see, but still a nice stroll with enough interesting facts to get us excited about the rest of the trip.
After lunch, we took in the view from the Shinonomeo Bridge, which overlooks the Kiso River. With free parking nearby and quite an elevation, this was a great tidbit to learn.
You can see how high we were because look at the tiny car on the right! And this was our first glimpse at the forests!
Overlooking the Kiso River
Our next stop was the ruins of the Naegi Castle. This time we were immersed in the forests and got to experience the feeling of shinrin yoku briefly (forest bathing), although being a public holiday it was busier than usual.
The short hike from the carpark was worth it. Look at the views over the Kiso Valley! Look at the trees!
Kiso Valley from Naegi Ruins, Ena
Kiso Valley
Naegi Castle Ruins
Kiso River
Day Two
The first post town of significance we visited was the beautifully preserved Magome Juku.
Magome Juku – these homes are between 100 and 300 years oldMagome Juku on the Nakasendo in Gifu PrefectureA souvenir shop on the NakasendoIt’s not a long hike between the post towns – this was about halfway, near the Odaki Waterfalls
Our next stop was Tsumago Juku. One of our favourite places was the old school – built from wood of course! It closed in the late nineties.
Kyu Nagisocho Tachitsumagosho SchoolEach building and shop is decorated with flowers
A lot of effort has gone into preserving this area and piece of Japanese history. According to Wikipedia the area prospered until a major vehicle highway in the area bypassed the towns. Facing demise and economic ruin a few of the towns’ forefathers elected to renovate the old houses and buildings. In 1987 the central government granted them historic status.
This whole area is fascinating especially if you’ve come to Japan and are hoping to see some history but are feeling overwhelmed by the number of temples and shrines. The Nakasendo / Kiso Valley area is very much a piece of history with roots in commercialism – the trade routes of Japan. It makes for a nice change of pace because it’s more recent history than the temples which date back thousands of years. It’s actually possible to imagine walking along these routes, stopping for a night in a ryokan inn, grabbing a plate of local soba. I highly recommend you visit!
Sacred Trees of Kiso Valley
In my next post I will talk more about the trees, forests and how important they are both now and then, to the ofuro makers, such as Bartok design.
If you are interested in tracing our route please take a look at the custom map I created on Google maps of our stops. I am more than happy to give more information on anything. -Jacqui (Bartok design team member)
Here we are dazzled by new emperor-era names, displaced by an uncommonly cold and rainy springtime and preparing for an extra long (but already fully booked) Golden Week holiday break. In these periods I recommend to lay back and wait for the confusion to clear. Maybe you can have a cup of hoji-tea and listen to some old time classics like Frank Sinatra or Billie Holiday. Timeless standards can reassure us that also this storm will pass, after all, and every winter (no matter how long or cold) always evolves into a springtime…
But if you try all of the above and the melancholy is still there, we have another “timeless standard” to propose as an infallible antidote to a bad day: a hot ofuro bath!
If you do not have one yet, look at this outlet ofuro tub. Its outstanding feature is … to be not outstanding: it is a “timeless standard”. Good for 2 people, in hinoki wood (not asnaro) and with a removable internal seat (already included in the price). This is probably in the strike zone of 90% of the people who are looking for an ofuro. 2 people / hinoki / internal seat. The only non standard part of this ofuro is the price: 650,000 JPY !!
Sawara Cypress The sawara cypress tree (Chamaecyparis pisifera) is very similar in appearance to the hinoki cypress tree. It grows slowly but can reach a height of up to 50m. As one of the Five Trees of Kiso it is highly-valued wood though it ranks below the hinoki which means there are more growing naturally in the forests of Japan. Both hinoki and sawara are sensitive to pollution which means they’re grown away from urban populations.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species there is no cause for alarm, the tree is well-represented and is classified as ‘Least Concern’. This is good news for wood-lovers and conservationists. Nevertheless, our suppliers manage the entire forest carefully with regard to the longevity of this eco-system.
Properties of Sawara Sawara has a warm cherry-like color, a beautiful straight grain and is very aromatic. The beautiful fine color of the wood reflects the pure environment in which the trees grow. Sawara appeals to those who think hinoki is too pale. Sawara shares the same rot-resistant qualities as hinoki and is used in the construction of shrines and temples and of course ofuro bathtubs.
Sawara is becoming a very popular material also among the Japan-lover community because of its color and reasonable price.
Asnaro I was really excited to find these labeled specimens in the Hokkaido University Botanical Gardens. Only one problem, I’m having trouble distinguishing them, now that I am back at the office. I think this one pictured above is asunaro/asnaro (Thujopsis dolabrata). I really love the scaly configuration of these leaves.
The asunaro is also called hiba. It’s an evergreen tree in the cypress family. This particular specimen was found in Hokkaido so it’s a rarer variation, the Thujopsis dolabrata var. hondai.
Nevertheless this tree grows quite readily across the four islands of Japan in the Thujopsis dolabrata var. dolabrata variety. According to the The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species this species is stable. It gets an LC (least concern) rating as it is planted in state-controlled forests where it grows well. Read more about hiba-arbor-vitae here on the IUCN Red List.
Hiba Arbor-vitae is an important forest tree in Japan and is one of the ‘five trees of Kiso’ (all are conifers) originally reserved for imperial use. There are now managed state forests with this species as the dominant tree besides some imperial forests. Its light, soft, resinless and durable wood is used in construction, for bridges, buildings, furniture, the wooden basis of lacquer work, wood carving, etc.
The choice for your ofuro As far as ofuro go we recommend asnaro more often than any other wood because of the cost advantage and the durability of this wood. It is harder to damage than say hinoki or sawara. We think you will love it too.
