The Kikusumi of Nose

For nearly five hundred years, tea masters, starting with Sen no Rikyu, have valued kikusumi (chrysanthemum charcoal) as “the charcoal for chanoyu.” This is why tea ceremony practitioners and charcoal makers have continued to work together in pursuit of creating the beautiful embers of kikusumi.

“Characteristics of high quality kikusumi.”
Kikusumi is produced using kunugi (the Asian oak species often referred to as “sawtooth oak”).
A cross-section cut reveals radiating cracks resembling chrysanthemum flowers. These crack lines need to be fine and evenly spaced.
The bark of the wood must be thin and tight around the core. Young branches used for charcoal should be smooth and resemble a “willow’s skin.”
When the charcoal is burning it will give off the fragrance of the kunugi tree.
When exhausted completely, the remaining ashes resemble a white chrysanthemum flower.

These aesthetic characteristics of kikusumi are not only sought after for its decorative value but are found to be “beautiful” as the result of innovations to charcoal for the purpose of attaining a functional and practical source of fuel. A core with finer and more numerous crack lines allows better air flow through the fuel and cleaner burning. Thin and tight bark skin prevents the charcoal from bursting when it burns. The gasses emitted from the kunugi that give off the pleasant fragrance, actually make the charcoal ignite quickly and burn efficiently.

Kikusumi has come into being out of a harmony between the careful work of charcoal makers and the refined sensibilities of tea masters. This wedding of “function” with “beauty” is what makes kikusumi an excellent fuel and, being so, a truly exquisite creation of the traditional crafts.

A skill refined and sublimated into art

In a silent chashitsu, glowing embers ping and the fragrance of burning charcoal wafts through the room. Time passes and the sound of “breeze through pine trees” rises, telling those present the water in the iron pot has come to a boil. The host sets to work whisking the tea. When all the guests have partaken, the charcoal is now an ashen “white flower” on the hearth – the sole witness to a quiet communion.

Charcoal used in the hearth during chanoyu is not only chosen for its utility as an indoor fuel. It must also make a statement to the senses, especially sight, sound and aroma. During chanoyu, when one leaves mundane concerns aside, one is allowed a moment to reflect on the “impermanence” and “frailty” of the world. For that kikusumi is considered the ideal charcoal.

Although the charcoal used in chanoyu is now an important item along with vessels, implements and scroll paintings, it initially was not valued as it is today. When the practice of drinking tea was introduced to Japan, charcoal was considered nothing more than a “fuel” used to boil water indoors. It belonged in the “back” area and not something expressly shown.

This changed during the 16th century when the preparation of tea became an art performed “in front of the guest” and the development of the style emphasizing simplicity, called wabi-cha, by tea masters such as Takeno Jôô and Sen no Rikyu. They established the standard for charcoal that could be appreciated for its beauty, along with its positioning in the hearth and the way the charcoal was to be handled. The attention given to the aesthetic details continued until formal rules and manners of sumi-temae as it is practiced today were realized.

In the Kansai region Ikeda-sumi is famous and it is simply named so because it was sold at the market in the town of Ikeda located between rural mountain communities and the two urban centers of Kyoto and Osaka. The charcoal is actually produced on the foothills of Mount Myôken or the area known as Ikeda okuyama (deep mountain district of Ikeda). The charcoal made in the town of Nose, located at the northern corner of Osaka prefecture is specifically referred to as Nose kikusumi

Where craftmanship and nature’s power meet.

Winter arrives and leafless kunugi oaks stand dormant. It is time for charcoal makers to get to work. The silent mountains of Nose echo with the sound of chainsaws harvesting kunugi branches that are quickly prepared by practiced workmen.

The kunugi stands of Nose are particular for their rows of “canon batteries.” These strange looking trees are unlike other timber such as cryptomeria or cypress that are felled only once. Rather, they can be harvested over and over again. In respect to their dignified silhouettes they are called oyaji (father, or the more familiar “old man”), It is in these groves of oyaji where craftmanship and nature’s power cohabit, and the landscape they are part of bear witness to the spirit of charcoal making in Nose township.

Up along the mountain slopes, guardian oyaji gaze down on Nose. Let’s turn to a brief history of charcoal in this area and introduce the skills of its charcoal makers.

Grueling work in a scorching kiln.

In December the cutting and preparing of raw kunugi begins and it lasts until April when the yamazakura wild cherry trees bloom. This is when the leafless kunugi are dormant and their branches do not contain any extra moisture; the ideal condition for making charcoal.

These green logs are then fired in a clay earth kiln. It takes about fourteen days for the logs to become charcoal.

The most grueling work is loading the kiln. After the previous lot of charcoal is taken out, the next load is put in before the kiln can cool. The temperature inside is between 80 – 100 C. In the dark with only the light of a headlamp, workers stand the logs on end, making sure they are tightly packed together. In the scorching kiln one can only stay for about twenty minutes. Carefully but quickly the work must be done. When one gets out to have a drink sweat evaporates and a cloud of steam rises off the body. This is repeated and for each firing of a big kiln about 3 tons of wood (over 1000 logs) are required.

Knowing the heat inside a closed kiln

The greatest skill required in making charcoal is knowing how to control the temperature and flames inside the kiln. If the temperature rises too fast, the bark will detach from the wood or the log will split. This spoils the beauty of the charcoal. Likewise, if the flames are smothered too soon the wood is not completely charred and when left too long only ash remains.

To “see” the heat inside a closed kiln, charcoal makers carefully observe the color of the smoke coming out of the small chimney. Right after the loaded kiln is fired the moisture filled smoke is white. As the temperature rises and carbonization progresses the smoke turns from black to purple and finally becomes a transparent gas.

When the temperature is negotiated with success from the time of firing, it takes about 14 days for a beautiful load of Nose kikusumi to appear out of the kiln.