Japanese Precious Wood and the Paradoxes of Added Value

Japanese precious wood — meiboku — is cherished for its grain, color, and other characteristics. The value of meiboku is augmented in finding and selecting the wood; in specialized silviculture; in the aging, treatment, and fashioning of the wood; in distribution, display, and consultation; and, especially, in its integration into the design of Japanese‐style rooms. Historically, forest communities embraced a labor‐intensive tradition of meiboku silviculture and processing, but modern technology has reduced the labor required, the cost of meiboku, and, potentially, the rarity and value of the wood. In explaining paradoxes of value creation, Thorstein Veblen's institutionalism illuminates an iterative interplay between a changing culture of demand and divisions of labor, alternately traditional and rationalized, in meiboku.Keywordsinstitutionalismmeibokurationalizationvaluewashitsu tokonoma Additional informationNotes on contributorsJerry PatchellDr. Patchell is an assistant professor of geography at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.Roger HayterDr. Hayter is a professor of geography at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada v5a 1s6

Archaeology · Distribution (mathematics · Economics · Economy · Factory (object-oriented programming · Geography · Neoclassical economics · Silviculture · Style (visual arts · Value (mathematics · Veblen good · Chinese history and philosophy · Computer Science · Forestry · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · History · Mathematics

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