The craft

The raw material is harvested by local craftsmen in such a way that it promotes rapid and fertile regrowth, ensuring that a healthy eco-system is still in place after centuries of traditional White Charcoal production.

First, ubame oak is baked at low temperatures in a handmade clay kiln. Te temperature is then rapidly increased before the embers are starved of oxygen by shutting the opening to the firebox, thereby preserving the carbon content of the wood. It’s that last step that differs from typical charcoal making, allowing Binchotan to retain around 97% of its carbon content. Once used, each charcoal product goes back to nature as a rich fertilizer.

Kishu Binchotan remains the finest, densest and purest form and is hand-made through a slow process over six weeks. This process is passed down through generations and the ritual around it is cherished greatly. White Charcoal has been used for centuries in an endless cycle of birth and rebirth, yet never been more relevant to our way of thought.

To continue the product lifecycle of our products, simply crush your used charcoal and mix it in with potting or garden soil. An excellent fertilizer, it will add nourishment and help regulate the PH balance for your plants to flourish and play their vital part in the carbon cycle of life.

The power of White Charcoal

White Charcoal is one of the purest forms of carbon available – this is what makes it such a powerful material. Still being produced according to ancient and sustainable Japanese handcraft traditions White Charcoal is nothing but a stage of life that happens to pass through our hands with multiple beneficial effects on our bodies and mind, before we return it to the earth.

Filled with countless microcavities, the surface area of just one gram of the material equals 250 m² , around the size of a tennis court. This allows White Charcoal to absorb impurities from water, air or even skin, while releasing vital minerals absorbed by the living tree, such as potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus.

White Charcoal can turn tap water into pure mineral water, remove odors from the air, and work as a balancing agent for the body through the food of negative ions it emits. Despite the intensity of the activity taking place within White Charcoal, its surface is hard and beautiful; like a piece of porcelain.