Word: wood
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...Malaysian part of Borneo (the rest of the island is controlled by Indonesia and Brunei) are shipped to Japan, where the lumber is most often made into throwaway plywood construction forms used to mold concrete. Nor is the situation in Borneo unusual. Japan's heavy demand for wood has led to the deforestation of vast tracts in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Last April the Japan Tropical Forest Action Network, a small but feisty environmental group based in Tokyo, presented the giant Marubeni Corp., one of the world's largest importers of tropical hardwoods, with a mock...
...Japan is the world's largest consumer of tropical timber: in 1986 it imported 15.7 million cubic meters, approximately equal to the imports of the entire European Community. Tokyo has begun to finance programs aimed at replanting trees in Southeast Asia but has not yet tried to limit wood imports...
...matter the wood's emotional state, Nakashima's furniture is distinguished by a tension between naturally shaped slabs of wood and meticulously worked support elements. While the base of a dining table may be crisply machined, Nakashima lets the natural "free edge" of the top planks determine the contour of the piece, instead of sawing a geometrical line...
...spindles. But his genius is essentially Oriental, akin to that of Zen rock gardening and Oriental flower arranging. Nakashima selects the exact natural object needed to serve a particular purpose. For a recent table, he used an 8-ft. cross section of redwood root. The wild energy of the wood, complete with cracks and holes, strains outward, as if it were trying to dissolve back into the ground. But the wood is held together in places with 4-in.-wide butterfly-shaped splints of walnut, Nakashima's signature method of prompting the ancient to new service...
There is nothing precious in either Nakashima's designs or his workshop. He employs ten assistant craftsmen and uses some power tools to do the rough work. The oil finish of his furniture merely needs to be cleaned with a wet cloth. "We recommend hard use," says Nakashima. "A wood surface that is without a scratch or mar is kind of distressing. It shows no life and has no time value." His business approach is equally straightforward. "I wanted," he says, "to make furniture out of real wood without it costing that much more than you would...