The five-story pagoda of Horyu-ji, a 1300 years old wooden building

The wood of the Japanese cypress (hinoki) was used for constructions ever since the oldest times, being mentioned in Nihon Shiki, one of Japan's oldest writings, as "a good tree for building palaces".

The oldest constructions made of hinoki are the main hall and the five-story pagoda of Hōryū-ji, Nara, erected more than 1,300 years ago. An amazing fact is that the durability of hinoki increases after 200 years, slowly becoming weaker after 1,000 years.