Tea Charcoal (茶炭 chazumi)
I had an opportunity to visit the Ono charcoal factory, Suzu city, Ishikawa prefecture today.
Charcoal is the important material for Japanese tea ceremony. It is used for both Sado and Sencha-do for boiling water. There is a procedure of setting(fixing) charcoal as well. (I showed it in the tea video letter #3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BaqxRoUwj8 from "1:33".)
During a tea gathering or class people try not to let the fire go out by adding charcoals.
The heat and boiling water made by the burning charcoal is very special. The sputtering sound of the burning charcoal and the sibilant sound of boiling water resonate in your heart in the silence.
In Sado, there are several sizes and shapes of charcoals are used (set in the right position). In Sencha-do, the same size of smaller charcoals are used for the smaller brazier (=涼炉ryoro) compared to Sado.
The requirements for the beautiful tea charcoal are ... 1. The cut end is beautiful round and smooth and looks like a "菊kiku (chrysanthemum)" flower. 2. It has a bark. 3. It is good at burning and holding the fire. 4. The flame and smoke doesn't rise up. 5. It has a subtle scent.
Mr. Ono is the only artisan of charcoal in Ishikawa prefecture. It is necessary to develop the high added value product for making a life as an artisan of charcoal. So he puts effort in making good tea charcoal.
People used to value in using charcoal for tea ceremony. But because of the appearance of the electric brazier/hot stove, the needs for charcoal had been dropped and it became one of the reasons for the remarkable decrease of the producers of charcoal. But in modern times, more and more people revalue of the traditions which have been handed down. But the decrease of the producers of charcoal has been the same and in the reality the number of the artisans of the good charcoal for tea ceremony is only five in Japan. So Mr.Ono has been working on the matter as well.
Tea charcoal is made from the 8-Year-Old "クヌギkunugi (sawtooth oak)" tree. The trees are lumbered and cut into the right length for putting them into the kiln, dried in the kiln for about a week, and fired for about 10 days to two weeks. Then those charcoals are cooled down and processed in the end. Mr. Ono said it is difficult to gain the ideal kunugi tree in Ishikawa prefecture, so he started planting kunugi trees by himself in 2003. This activity has been proceeded associating with the administration or NPO.
In terms of the conservation of "里山satoyama (village-vicinity mountain)", the produce of charcoal has been reviewed little by little.
I can't help but wonder ... if the traditional charcoal making is disappeared??? It would be the end of Japanese traditional tea culture. As the charcoal is consumable thing, if there is zero artisan of charcoal, we can't hand down our beautiful tradition to the next generations. I realize again one tradition has been supported and handed down by so many things and people.
At this point, what I can/need to do is to know and learn these matters, share the stories with people around and use the materials or utensils like charcoal preciously to serve a delicious cup of tea in the peaceful atmosphere for the guest and enjoy sharing the beautiful moment.
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［Location of Ono charcoal factory］石川県珠洲市東山中町ホ部2 (Hobu 2, Higashi yamanaka machi, Suzu city, Ishikawa JAPAN) https://www.facebook.com/notokikusumi/