I'm what I like.: Knowing when to say “when” ---visiting the Kishu binchotan charcoal kilns ---

In the process of making binchotan charcoal at Mr. Kotani’s kiln.

I visited the Kishu binchotan charcoal kilns in Wakayama pref. last month. Binchotan is very good fuel. Many Japanese chefs prefer it for grilled foods such as yakitori (grilled chicken on bamboo skewers), unagi (eel) and robatayaki (traditional Japanese indoor grill). Chefs appreciate that binchotan hold heat and last longer, giving dished savory smell. However it’s so much more than just that.

Kishu binchotan can be used to purify tap water, capture moisture and odors from the air and fertilize soil in the garden. They say the process of making charcoal leaves countless microscopic holes, which trap unwanted chemicals.

Kishu binchotan is made with ubamegashi, or oak trees. The trees grow slowly and it takes about 30 years to become solid enough for charcoal making. Binchotan is produced primarily in Wakayama Prefecture (Kishu). It’s reputation for being the highest quality charcoal combined with its long history has put binchotan in the spotlight not only in Japan but on an international scale.

I visited Mr.Hara’s and Mr.Kotani’s kilns with a friend of mine along with Ms.Kakimoto, who is a staff member of Kishu Binchotan Shinkoukan (The Association for Promotion of Kishu Binchotan) in Minabe-cho, Wakayama pref. On our way to the kilns, Ms.Kakimoto explained that the binchotan business was facing serious difficulties. They have plenty of new orders, but they can’t fill them on account of a shortage of raw materials.

Mr.Hara is putting ubamegashi branches into the kiln with the traditional way.

Driving curves and narrow winding mountain roads, we managed to reach Mr. Hara’s kiln, a binchotan master. Although it was early in the morning, he had just completed pulling out a load of finished charcoals from the kiln and had begun preparing the next load. Observing him, I realized that his job is much tougher than I imagined. He usually goes into mountains to cut trees, trims branches into preferable size and shapes, puts branches in the kiln (totally 3 tons at a time), burns branches for a few days while returning to the mountains in order to do it all again. Mr. Hara said he works more than 356 days per year. Yes, I quite agree.

Even though he has to work very hard, Mr. Hara himself, and other passionate artisans as well, is considering about the shortage of ubamegashi trees. The shortage was caused by excessive cutting without planning. Inexperienced charcoal artisans who have just come into the industry only for money are likely to cut as much as they want. So, the forest of ubamegashi trees is diminishing year by year. Mr. Hara said that the same things happened in Edo period. He knows how people in Edo period coped with the problem and he has started taking an action on the issue, that is, “takubatsu,” or selective logging. Generally, ubamegashi trees have many branches. What Mr. Hara is doing is taking some of them for this year and leave rest of them for next year and after the following years. Moreover, he has started planting baby trees in mountains and educating children on how we preserve the forest for the future.

What a fool we are. Once we get to know that it’s a very effective way to earn much money, we crowd around it and take it out until it would dry up. We have repeated this kind of things over and over again.

Tsukubai stone at Ryoanji temple in Kyoto. Photo: wikipedia

“Give me more.” “We have to grow and earn money more than last year.” I’m sick and tired of hearing that kind of things. Do we really need to continue to expand? There is a Japanese saying, “ware tada taru wo shiru吾唯足るを知る”, or I simply know what is enough. It is curved on the tsukubai stone at Ryoanji temple in Kyoto. I remembered this words when I got to know Mr. Hara and other charcoal artisans who engage in preserving resources.
I’ve learned a lot from this trip thanks to them.

Detail information about Kishu binchotan charcoal (Japanese)

Minabegawa forest association

http://www.kishu-binchotan.jp

Mr. Hara’s interview

http://www.tanagokoro.com/column/column8.html

Mr. Kotani’s website

Kimajimeya’s HomePage

http://kimajimeya.web.fc2.com

Mr.Matsumoto’s interview, the representative of Minabegawa forest assosiation

http://www.tanagokoro.com/column/column4.html

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