Yakisugi anyone?

During our recent trip to Japan, and particularly when we toured the older areas of Nara and Kyoto, I couldn't help but notice the siding on older, beautiful houses that used a special wood treatment that I only previously noticed in and around my home valley of Morzine, France, in the siding or exterior wood adorning new, expensive homes. More recently, I know of one new home using wood siding prepared with this technique.

My countrymen call that “bois brûlé” which stands for “burnt wood”. My native Savoie might be one of the few Western places where that technique has been used as I have yet to see an example of it in the United States. The process, known as “shou sugi ban”, is a ­centuries-old Japanese ­technique for preserving and finishing wood by charring it with fire.

According to an article I found in the New York Times, the treatment which leaves behind a dense, carbonized layer of blackness has been around since at least the 18th century, though earlier examples exist. It began as a practical process used mostly for fencing and for the facades of rural homes and storehouses that held vital commodities like rice, that families wanted to protect from fires.

That's right, even though it's a bit hard to believe, burning the wood surface makes it fireproof. The external combustion neutralizes the cellulose in the wood, stuff that termites, fungus and bacteria love, making it undesirable to these same pests and resistant to rot.

The resulting charcoal layer repels water and prevents sun damage as well. By some estimates, boards that have undergone this process can last 80 years or more, but Japan’s Buddhist Horyuji Temple in Nara prefecture, whose five-story pagoda is one of the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures, has been around for much longer. Initially built in A.D. 607, the pagoda caught fire and was rebuilt in 711 using shou sugi ban.

In Japan, the process is called yakisugi, which roughly translates into ‘‘burned cedar board.’’ Traditionally, three boards are tied together lengthwise to form a triangular tunnel. The interior is then set on fire and the scorched surface cooled with water.

In France, a high-pressure water treatment is used following the burning process to remove the charcoal. I love the process, but find it lacking in brightness and colors. My brother who had his chalet redone in burnt wood some 10 years ago loves the process and told me that the only downside was the presence of many nasty splinters in the wood; watch your fingers !