Buna Beech: Fine Flecks and a History in Bentwood Furniture
WOOD DICTIONARY
Buna is an evenly textured hardwood with fine dots and streaks within a pale background. It has been used for rounded furniture components, floors, and everyday implements. Its character becomes clearer when you look closely at the surface, not just at the color from a distance.
The photographs are examples of the color and grain associated with each wood or figure. Every piece of natural wood is different; the sheet you receive will not have exactly the same color or grain as the photographs.
Names and basic facts
- Japanese and English names
- Buna / Shirobuna / Japanese beech Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech
- Scientific name and classification
- Fagus crenata / Fagus in the Fagaceae family Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech
- Native range
- From southwestern Hokkaido to Kyushu and other parts of Japan Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech
- Veneer cut offered
- Quarter-cut and flat-cut MORI KOUGEI: Buna (Japanese Beech) A4 Veneer Sheet
The English name beech and Japan’s buna
Trees called beech in English belong to the genus Fagus. Japanese buna is Fagus crenata, but beech traded overseas does not always refer to the same species. MORI KOUGEI offers this A4 sheet under the trade name buna. Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech / MORI KOUGEI: Buna (Japanese Beech) A4 Veneer Sheet
As a tree, it is one of the characteristic species of Japan’s cool-temperate forests. Another name, sobaguri, compares its fruit to buckwheat. The three-angled nuts also provide food for wild animals. Buna as timber and buna as a forest tree connect different aspects of everyday life. Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech
Look for the sesame-like pattern
Buna wood ranges from pale grayish white to pale reddish brown, with heartwood and sapwood often difficult to distinguish. The fine pattern on the surface comes from its rays and is sometimes called goma-me, or “sesame pattern,” on a flat-cut face. Luster on a quarter-cut face is another characteristic: the same tissue looks different with the orientation of the cut. Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech
Dark brown false heartwood can also occur, and wood may be described with terms such as shirobuna, “white beech,” or akabuna, “red beech.” Buna is not limited to white wood. If uniform color is important to a surface, check the overall tone alongside the fine pattern when making your choice. Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech
A timber for bentwood furniture
Buna is relatively heavy and hard, yet also tough and suited to bending. It has been used for chairs and other furniture, flooring, toys, and lacquerware blanks. Its applications expanded with advances in drying and processing, showing why “hard wood cannot be shaped” is too simple a distinction. Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Japanese Beech / Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, aff: Enriching Life with Wood
Bending solid timber to make furniture and bonding a thin sheet to a substrate are different processes. Beech’s general suitability for bentwood should not be taken as a guarantee that veneer can be applied to every curved surface. MORI KOUGEI: Buna (Japanese Beech) A4 Veneer Sheet
Pale wood calls for attention to the substrate
MORI KOUGEI A4 buna veneer measures 210 × 297 mm and is approximately 0.25 mm thick. It has industrial washi-paper backing and is available in quarter-cut and flat-cut options. It can be used as a surface material for furniture edges, repairs or resurfacing of flat wooden areas, and marquetry. MORI KOUGEI: Buna (Japanese Beech) A4 Veneer Sheet
The color or pattern of a substrate may show through pale wood. Test a small area before bonding and check whether the grain direction and fine pattern suit the intended finish. Unlike a wood chosen for bold growth-ring lines, buna rewards a closer look at the surface. MORI KOUGEI: Buna (Japanese Beech) A4 Veneer Sheet
Shop Buna (Japanese Beech) A4 Veneer ↗
Explore related woods
This article draws on publicly available sources from Japan and abroad, with AI used to support research and organization.