Japanese

FROM Japanese

Sumi

SumiJapanese people have incorporated the blessings from forests into lifestyles. One of the blessings we enjoy is “sumi (charcoal)” made of wood including bamboo.

 

The history of the interaction between charcoal and Japanese people is old, and “keshizumi,” residues of burnt timber, have been found in archeological sites dating from several hundred thousand years ago.  People began to use charcoal for warmth in the Nara Period (710 to 794).  In the Heian Period (794 to 1185), the following wakapoem, Japanese poetry in a 5-7-5-7-7 metre, was written:

 

Ureshikumo Tomoto-naritsutsu Uzumibi-no Akeiku-sora-ni Nao-nokorikeru  (Kinhira-shu)
(One winter night, I lighted a charcoal for warmth.  The lambent charcoal fire was with me through the night like a friend and its ember is still smoldering in the ashes in the morning light.)

 

Uzumibi” is a charcoal fire in ashes lighted in furnaces or braziers.  The charcoal fire is gently burning through the night like a friend until it becomes an ember in the morning light.

 

Charcoal fire maintaining a soft warmth would be a reliable existence for the people in olden times who were obliged to live in accordance with severe natural climatic conditions.

 

It is said that the technique of charcoal burning was brought from China to Japan by Kūkai, a grand master of Buddhist teaching, also known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi.  Charcoal burning as an advanced technique and Buddhism were distributed to regions of Japan, and the charcoal burning technique was developed in keeping with the characteristics of the trees in respective areas.  Sawthorn oak (Quercus acutissima), mizunara (Quercus crispula), konara (Quercus serrata), other oaks and bamboo have come to be used for charcoal.

 

During the Muromachi Period (1336 to 1573), high-quality charcoal was in high demand in parallel with the flowering of chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea."  In the Azuchi Momoyama Period (1573 to 1600), charcoal came to be used for chanoyu, and this kind of charcoal is called yuzumi. Among yuzumi,“kiku-zumi,” whose cross-section looks like a chrysanthemum, has been especially appreciated by chanoyu masters such as Sen no Rikyū.  

 

In this way, charcoal has been familiar to Japanese people both as a source of warmth and as a support for Japanese culture.

However, after World War II, the demand for charcoal decreased in association with the use of alternatives such as gas, oil and electricity.  Nowadays, the number of professionals engaged in forestry or charcoal burning is very limited.

 

On the other hand, some young people focusing on charcoal have started activities in order to hand over the lifestyle of satoyama that enables us to live in harmony with nature.  They aim at activating local areas through thinning abandoned forests and using the timber as charcoal.  Fresh air is being breathed into villages throughout Japan – in Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Uchiko Town of Ehime Prefecture, and Nose Town of Osaka Prefecture.  The will of these young people is softly but steadily catching alight and burning like a charcoal fire.

 

In addition, charcoal is effective for purification and healing; it is available as a purifier of air and water, and as a softening aroma.

 

Recently, new demand for charcoal has been found in keeping with the times.  With food or water, we can absorb minerals and detox unnecessary things in the body using charcoal.  For example, nature-oriented soaps and cosmetics are made using charcoal as an ingredient.  And also, charcoal is available as fancy objects for the room.

 

Charcoal supports our lives, is sublimate as fire, and returns us to nature.  Thinking about the life circle of charcoal might remind us of a wisdom for passing life down future generations.

 

 

(Makiko Imai)

Japanese