Sugi (Criptmeria Japonica) wood meal was liquefied at 150 degrees C with a mixture of poly(ethylene glycol) 400 and glycerin in the presence of a sulfuric acid catalyst. The resulting liquefaction products were used directly to prepare isocyanate adhesives via mixing with polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate without the removal of the residue. The properties of the liquefaction products and the performances of bonded plywood were tested. The results showed that the residue content decreased and the hydroxyl value increased as the reaction time increased. The viscosity and weight-average molecular weight significantly changed with the reaction time. All the dry test results of the shear strength met the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) criteria for plywood. After a cyclic steaming treatment, however, only the plywood bonding with adhesives from the liquefied wood with a reaction time of 1.5 h satisfied the JAS criteria. The wood failure was very low. The emissions of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were extremely low. Liquefiedwood-based isocyanate adhesives have the potential to become ideal wood adhesives because of their bond durability, safety, and recyclability. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.