Japanese torreya / イチイ科カヤ属 / 日本

Phantom's luxury tree
It is a golden color tree that has a lot of resin content and aroma of insect repellent, and gives shiny shiny luster as you use it. Because it was used to smolder timber and branches and drive away mosquitoes, Kaya comes from this "mosquito repair". It is also best to use cutting boards, chopsticks, bowls and sculptures, but boards, shogi boards, and stone pearls are made of the finest quality items made from kaya. Wooden oil is considered to be the best as an edible oil, and warlords such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu are said to have appreciated and praised the oil of Tempura as tempura oil.

幻の高級木
樹脂分が多く虫除けの芳香があり、使い込むほど飴色の光沢が出る黄金色の木。間伐材や枝を燻して蚊を追い払うために使われたため、カヤはこの「蚊遣り」に由来するという説がある。まな板や箸、お椀、彫刻に使用するのも最適だが、碁盤、将棋盤、連珠盤はカヤで作られたものが最高級品とされる。古くから木の油は食用油として最高のものとされ、豊臣秀吉、徳川家康といった武将達が榧の油を天ぷら油として賞味、賞賛したと言われる。