Jindai Elm: Quiet Color from a History of Burial

Wood Dictionary

Jindai Elm is a trade name for elm timber that has lain buried for a long time. MORI KOUGEI describes it as having a muted gray-green to blue-gray appearance. It brings together the wood name elm and a history of time spent underground.

Example of a jindai elm A4 sheet (quarter-sawn)

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 identification

Meaning of the trade name: Jindai elm: a name combining elm with jindai, which describes the timber's history of burial. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet
Classification: A trade category treated as timber of the genus Ulmus, family Ulmaceae. The individual species has not been identified. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet / Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Harunire and ohyō
Date of burial: No dating result has been verified for this product. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet
Available cut and color category: Quarter-sawn. The product description gives gray-green (blue-gray) as its color. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet

Jindai is not a new tree species

Jindai is a name for wood recovered after lying buried in soil or similar conditions for a long period and subsequently used as timber. Jindai elm does not mean a botanical species different from ordinary elm; it includes information about the wood's history. The same word is used with other woods, such as jindai sugi. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet / Akita Prefectural University: Research on sugi timber buried by the collapse of Mount Chōkai

The word jindai alone does not establish how many years ago a tree was buried or which event or conditions caused it. For MORI KOUGEI's product, we likewise introduce the verified material name and appearance without adding a numerical age. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet

Buried wood can develop different colors

Research on buried trees excavated around Mount Chōkai in Akita recorded colors unlike those of present-day timber of the same species, including black chestnut and deep-green keyaki. The study shows that the colors of long-buried wood vary, including differences associated with species. Kayo Kudo et al.: Species identification and wood color of trees buried by the collapse of Mount Chōkai, Mokuzai Gakkaishi 65(2), 2019

The samples in that research are not the elm in this product. Rather than suggesting that all jindai wood becomes the same gray, the study offers context for appreciating the color of each piece. Do not infer the cause of coloration or the wood's strength from the product name alone; choose by examining the surface you intend to use. Kayo Kudo et al.: Species identification and wood color of trees buried by the collapse of Mount Chōkai, Mokuzai Gakkaishi 65(2), 2019 / MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet

Enjoy elm grain in a different color range

Harunire, a representative elm, is ring-porous with clearly defined growth rings. It has been used for furniture, implements and drum shells. In jindai elm, considering the combination of grain associated with elm and color different from ordinary timber provides a useful basis for selection. Hokkaido Research Organization, Forest Products Research Institute: Harunire and ohyō / MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet

MORI KOUGEI treats regular Elm and Jindai Elm as separate products. Compare them according to whether you want contrast with a lighter material or a quiet, unified surface. Even gray-looking woods differ in hue; the same name does not mean every sheet is the same color. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet / MORI KOUGEI: Elm A4 veneer sheet

A timber with a history, made into a thin surface

The A4 sheet measures 210 × 297 mm and is approximately 0.25 mm thick. We offer quarter-sawn natural wood veneer backed with industrial washi paper for furniture edges, repairs and resurfacing on flat wooden substrates, and wood inlay. It is a product to bond down and reveal the wood's character, not a block of excavated timber. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet

Decide on the substrate, bonding method and required dimensions first, then check the finished color on a small area before proceeding. When using several sheets, please contact us with your intended use and any requirements for coordinating color and grain. MORI KOUGEI: Jindai elm A4 veneer sheet

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This article draws on publicly available sources from Japan and abroad, with AI used to support research and organization.

References