Lumber|Shingu Shoko.Ltd

The housing industry has undergone a radical transformation in the 21st century. One of the biggest changes in Japan has been a wider range of applications for lumber under the Housing Quality Assurance Act, the new JAS and JIS laws, and the New Building Standards Act. The new legislation recognizes lumber as a healthy, environmentally friendly material for interior spaces.

In addition, the forests used to grow lumber do more than provide us with valuable timber. Forests play a major role in keeping natural ecosystems in place, preserving soil and water quality, and combatting global warming. Recent years have seen a growing awareness of the importance of forests, both in Japan and around the world.

Timber produced from forests is a renewable biological resource. Careful use of lumber from properly managed forests can keep the forests healthy; revitalize the natural environment; support environmentally-friendly, recycling-oriented communities; and help limit the effects of global warming.

Shingu Shoko had begun managing its forests by 1924, and today operates over 5,000 hectares across Japan. The company has always worked to make effective use of its wood resources, cherishing the warmth, soothing feel, and luxurious textures that only natural products can provide?in short, offering the comfortable materials that create a comfortable home. Understanding the natural properties of the trees themselves is what has allowed us to infuse their calming energy into our wood products, and we will continue to do so in the years to come.

In 1919, Shingu Shoko moved its headquarters to Otaru in northern Japan and set up mills at Kotanbetsu, Bihoro, and other areas throughout the Hokkaido area. This was the start of our domestic shipping and overseas export of Hokkaido lumber.

We set up a wood preservation plant in Kushiro city in 1925, where we applied a preservative process to lumber for use in telephone poles, railroad ties, and similar applications. We also began selling products manufactured at our adjacent sawmill to customers throughout Hokkaido.

In 1935 we built a plywood factory in the Zenibako area of Otaru City, where we manufactured and exported lumber and plywood after the war. In 1957, we introduced high-frequency edge gluers made by Raybond Mfg in USA to the Zenibako mill. This allowed us to mass-produce lumber-core plywood. Today, we make use of our decades of experience with lumber processing technologies to create a wide range of residential construction materials, including plywood, laminated wood, interior panels, wooden window frames, and more.

With a variety of overseas materials and products in high demand as well, Shingu Shoko decided to put its energy into the commercial lumber trade as well. We directly import precious wood veneers, timber, residential construction materials, and other wood products from renowned manufacturers in Europe and North America, and are committed to expanding our sales channels for these outstanding commodities.

In 2006, we set up an overseas office in Dalian in order to ramp up our imports of laminated wood and processed timber products from China.