ROOTED IN TRADITION Like the tree for which it is named,
HINOKI stands tall among island restaurants BY BARRY KAUFMAN • PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN
To understand Hinoki, the restaurant, you must first understand what the word Hinoki stands for. In Japanese, hinoki is the word for a towering pine of immense cultural and spiritual reverence: Chamaecyparis obtuse — the Japanese cypress. While various cultivars can be found all over the world, a true hinoki can only take root in Japan, owing to some magical combination of the island nation’s volcanic soil and sea breezes. Hinoki grows slowly, showing little concern for how much it has grown in a year, just as long as it has grown stronger. And the rich color and sturdy timbers of hinoki have made it the standard for building anything of cultural importance – temples, castles, traditional noh theaters, and of course, sushi bars.
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