Developers find timely way to showcase local timber of Ehime

By HIRAKU TODA/ Staff Writer
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14932531 
June 30, 2023 at 06:00 JST

Wooden wristwatches called E_Wood_K developed by the Ehime Forest Association and a local business (Provided by the Ehime Forest Association)

MATSUYAMA, Ehime Prefecture--A line of wristwatches made of sawtooth oak, zelkova and cherry blossom tree were created here to help broaden the appeal of locally produced timber.

The Ehime Forest Association, consisting primarily of forestry workers, jointly developed the fashion accessory with a business in Matsuyama amid the shrinking demand for locally produced timber.

“We hope that people, for example, buy our watches as gifts for their significant others,” said a representative of the developers.

The brand name E_Wood_K was determined in the hopes that consumers will come to “have knowledge about Ehime wood” through the line.

The three types of wood, plus 11 kinds of straps of different colors and materials, mean a total of 33 watch variations are available. Only 300 units will be on sale under the brand.

While 44-gram models with silicon-fashioned bands carry a price tag of 15,000 yen ($107) after tax, those featuring leather and wooden straps will be priced at 20,000 yen.

The Ehime Forest Association once also released a wooden watch featuring an illustration of Ehime Prefecture’s mascot character Mikyan on its dial.

The association this time asked Matsuyama-based Ripple Effect Inc., headed by Takahiro Yamada--who has won Germany’s prestigious iF Design Award for exceptional industrial products and public facilities the world over--to work on the latest line.

The design is marked by a dial panel 20 millimeters in diameter that is asymmetrically embedded in the round wooden body to showcase the beauty of the wood grain.

Ehime Prefecture is known as one of the leading cypress-producing areas throughout Japan.

A lot of sawtooth oak is alike planted there to help produce dried shiitake mushrooms--a local specialty, too, according to the forestry association.

However, with fewer farmers growing shiitake, a problem emerged regarding what to do with the wood variant, which is difficult to use as building materials or furniture.

The timber has found a new application as a wristwatch.

“Enjoy the texture unique to wood that can change after repeated use,” said an association official.

The watches are available at the prefecture’s Ringyo Kaikan hall and the Mokuseikatsu shop for wooden goods, both of which are in Matsuyama.