The outcome of a four year collaboration between Matthew and Ise; the film tells the stories of 14 participants including priests, politicians, artists, activists, foresters, carpenters and architects. Their stories explore the origins of this ritual and the ancient relationship between Japanese people and forests; exploring how new generations are looking to regenerate Japan’s forests and reimagine their future role in society.

“Wood ages and rots just like we do, and just as with the shrines which we rebuild every 20 years, it’s through this constant process of renewal that something lasts forever.”
– Takeshi Nakatani

In 2019 Matthew took part in an artist residency at the shrines of the Ise Jingu, one of the most venerated Shinto sites in Japan. Following the pandemic, he returned to create his new film ‘Wood Rots Like We Do’. Its title is taken from the words of local artist Takeshi Nakatani (above), who offered his interpretation of the ritual that makes Ise Jingu so special: Shikinen Sengu.

Shikinen Sengu refers to the complete rebuilding of Jingu’s 125 shrines, constructed of hinoki cypress wood, every 20 years, for the past 1,300. There is a six-month period where the 20-year-old structure stands adjacent to the brand-new one, before the former is deconstructed, with ⅔ of its material recycled through other shrines. It was this perpetual state of “newness” that led architect Bruno Tout to proclaim that the shrines of Ise Jingu were to timber, what the Parthenon was to stone: worthy of a pilgrimage to all architects.

This ritual challenges not only the Western idea of architectural longevity but also of “sustainability”. Counterintuitively, the felling of the 13,000 mature cypress trees required for rebuilding every 20 years, is what continues to ensure the preservation of thousands of hectares of forest, across millennia. The rebuilding has ensured this by communicating forestry and carpentry skills and care across generations. A form of “communication that transcends the ages” – Kenichi Suzuki, Mayor of Ise.

Today Japan, a nation with nearly 70% forest cover, is the fourth biggest importer of timber in the world. The UK is second. As many of its own forests lay unused and fall into mis-management, Japan has been responsible for deforestation in South East Asian countries including Malaysia and Indonesia.

In the film, environmental activists from Fridays for Future Japan and community planting organisations such as Silva, seek to reverse this trend. Re-introducing the idea of “Satoyama” (Human-Forest) to a new generation; the ancient, embedded concept of “give and take” with forests; where humans go into the forest, use some of its resources for fuel and construction, and then they take care of the forest. Taking the rebuilding, and regrowing, of the Ise Jingu’s shrines as its inspiration: Wood Rots Like We Do explores how this relationship between people and forests has changed, and how it might be re-imagined for future generations.