Suginosei | Hiroshi Murayama

About 70% of Japan's land is forests. About 40% of them are artificial forests. Unlike primary forests that grow naturally, artificial forests must be cultivated by human beings. Above all, cedar and mulberry etc. need thinning and pruning etc. in line with growth.

However, since the 1990s, when the demand for thinning fell, it was abandoned in the forest, causing damage such as drifting when flooded. In addition, if thinning does not take place in the first place and trees can not grow properly and grow without being firmly rooted on the ground, mountains can not store rainwater, which may cause landslides and fallen trees.

While these problems are seen throughout the country, making essential oils by making effective use of thinning wood from Kitayama cedar is Kyoto It is Murayama Hiroshi of "Suginosei" of Keihoku, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City. This time, GOOD NATURE STATION We introduce manufacturing to realize recycling society that we are promoting with Mr. Murayama.

Touch the rich nature and create the essential oil

Kyoto It is approximately one hour by car from the city. Silver chimneys shine on the banks of the waterways that flow through the groves of groves of cedar-planted trees. This is the workshop of Hiroshi Sugiyama of Suginosei.

Mr. Murayama was born and raised in Keihoku-cho. After graduating from high school for a while in forestry, I changed to a national government official and left hometown. However, Mr. Murayama, who returned to his home when he was 50, was suddenly moved by the natural scenery of Keihoku.

Murayama: "I think" Keihoku is uh coy ". While connecting to the town, I began to think that I could do something here. Once I was away, I thought that I realized the value of resources in the local area. If you're in Keihoku, you probably won't do the work of making essential oils, so even if you look at the thinned cedar branches, you may have been throwing it without knowing how good it is. "

Essential oils are volatile oils that are stored in the leaves, petals and roots of plants, and can only be extracted from very large amounts of raw materials. Each plant has its own scent and active ingredients, and is used in cosmetics and aromatherapy.

Mr. Murayama focused on essential oils when he was burning the thinned cedar branches. I noticed that the oil was falling, and I was told, "Can I use something to do something?" I immediately tried it with my steamer at home and laughed looking back at the time, saying, "I could only take a minute or so."

Both trees and water ... A system that circulates regional resources

At Suginosei, we use the steam distillation method to extract 100% natural oil essential oils without using any catalyst. First, water is boiled in a pressured pan and steam is used to vaporize the essential oil components contained in the raw materials. It is liquefied as an essential oil by cooling the steam at this time.

Murayama: "The raw materials are those from shredded thinnings, those used for distillation are underground water, the pots used to grind the pot are waste materials and leftovers left in the mountains, etc. They are near the studio to cool the steam. I use water from the waterways, and I use the raw material squeezed from the refining process back to the soil as fertilizer in the field.

In general, waste and residual materials are treated as industrial waste, so there is a cost to dispose them. However, if you bring it to "Suginosei", you can receive it as a fuel for making essential oils. Mr. Murayama created a new mechanism to recycle local resources without waste.

By the way, the distillation system of "Suginosei" is all handmade. Remove the bottom, put the raw material into a commercial size body pot with a net, and place it on top of the same size size pan made of boiling water. In consideration of circulation efficiency, a round bowl is adopted for the lid. Mr. Murayama has repeated trial and error to distill more essential oils of higher quality.

Murayama: "We will make essential oil of dumplings from the end of November, but the dumplings are heavy, so if you put them in the pan a lot, the lower ones will become sloppy. By devising not to apply excessive weight downwards, the steam became evenly distributed, and by shortening the pipe for cooling the steam, the loss was reduced, and 2-3 times the amount of essential oil compared to the original was reduced. Now you can pick it up "

Thus, even if it takes time and effort to burn the pot from dawn to sunset, the amount of essential oil that can be obtained is not large. It depends on the raw material, but even cedar that contains a lot of oil, it takes only 500 to 800 ml over the whole day. It is very valuable.

Dream is to spread the structure of recycling-type agriculture and forestry

Currently, the essential oil brand "Kyonoka" series of "Suginosei" has developed 4 types of Kitayama cedar, Kuromoji, Yuzu, Japanese pepper. Kitayama cedar uses what Mr. Murayama entered into a mountain and pruned, and Kuromori purchases what was thinned in the Seya plateau of Miyazu City.

Murayama: "There is a forest with a lot of broadleaf trees in the Seya highland, and I buy the black foliage I harvested when the local high school cleaned up the mountain as a club activity. It contains money to manage the mountains, which I think is also contributing to the area. "

At Murayama-san, a consultation "I want you to know the know-how of making essential oils" came to come from all over the country. Mr. Murayama taught without hesitation how to make the steam distillation system of Suginosei to the visiting people. We are making efforts to extend the system of recycling-type agricultural and forestry completed in Keihoku to Japan.

Murayama: "It is said by people that" Why not take a patent ", but this mechanism spreads to various places, and the wood that should be thrown away circulates, and the rough mountain becomes beautiful. It's my greatest desire. "

GOOD NATURE STATION So, we are currently developing products that use the essential oil of Suginosei as a raw material. We will also handle the essential oil series of the original brand "Kyonoka" from "Suginosei". Through these activities, we not only provide products that enjoy the smell of 100% natural materials, but also work to solve social issues such as the reuse of thinning materials and realize a recycling society.