Hinoki Essential Oil, Japan

Hinoki Essential Oil

AKA Hinoki cypress, Japanese cypress--a beautifully subtle woody oil, with warm, sweet adn soft fruit undertones. Considered anti-bacterial as well.

Product Information

Chamaecyparis obtusa.  

Distilled in Japan from sawdust left over from a traditional ofuro bathtub craftsman. Hinoki means “fire tree.”

Hinoki is known as a very high quality wood, and is one of the preferred building materials in Japan, especially for its subtle aroma, which continues to exude for years. There are instances in Japan of hinoki structures up to 1300 years old and it’s still possible to smell the odor of the wood. It’s used in building temples, palaces, shrines, traditional noh theatres, baths, cutting boards, rice mixing tubs, table tennis handles and masu, the small square saki boxes we find in some sushi bars. The wood itself is light pinkish, with a rich, straight grain and it resists rot.

Considered to be anti-bacterial, hinoki trees are endemic to Japan and are also found in Taiwan

Hinoki essential oil is a fine woody ethereal odor with lemony notes and a warm and sweet undernote.

Arctander says

Hinoki root oil is a pale yellow liquid of dry, woody, camphoraceous odor with a peculiar warm-sweet, almost spicy undertone. The oil consists almost entirely of terpineol, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes.