Hironta mura asked me to make a video of this year’s charcoal making process. I have recorded English voice-overs and uploaded this version to my YouTube channel. Have a look at the process! The video shows the start to finish process of making one batch, although generally 4〜6 batches get made each year.
I use the charcoal for all of my daily cooking needs, as well as to heat my sunken kotatsu heater and hibachi during the short winter in Ojika. When converted to charcoal, the efficiency is greatly increased. I can therefore cover my cooking and heating energy needs with basically one medium to large sized tree per year. Hironta mura uses several batches worth per year, because of increased cooking and use for smoking meats, etc. Another batch or so gets sold to friends on Ojika.