Most bokuto are made of Japanese evergreen oak (quercus acuta) and bamboo-leaf oak (quercus myrsinaefolia), but some of them are made from expensive materials, such as ebony, winterhazel (distylium racemosum), and loquat (eriobotrya japonica).
材質はアカガシやシラカシが多いが、黒檀、すぬけ、枇杷などの高価な素材のものもある。