Dust-free charcoal
On Sale at Mercari
Dust-free charcoal is a quality replica of the actual charcoal used for tea ceremony practice created with the latest 3D printing technology. The ideal shape and its weight material make it easy to set up, and there's neither charcoal powder that would stain your hands nor the room. We've received good feedback from our customers that it was easier for them to enjoy using the charcoal. Check out our store on the Mercari site.
For Urasenke summer set
5000 yen
For Urasenke winter set
8000 yen
For Urasenke style summer / winter
2 sets
12000 yen
For Omotesenke summer set
5000 yen
For Omotesenke winter set
8000 yen
For Omotesenke style summer / winter
2 sets
12000 yen
What is a Mock-up Charcoal?
It is a substitute for real charcoal. It can't be burned.
In the tea ceremony, along with the tradition of making matcha (powdered green tea), we also practice the charcoal preparation (sumi temae), in which charcoal is placed in a fireplace or furnace in front of guests during tea ceremonies.
Of course, it is best to use real charcoal for this practice. But because charcoal is a natural product, it is very irregular in size and shape. In addition, even if you use real charcoal, charcoal powder tends to spill out and stain both the room and hands. Recently, charcoal has become scarce and difficult to buy, and its price has become expensive. So it's very impractical and wasteful to burn real charcoal for every practice session.
Okeikosumi-Charcoal, quality replica charcoal, was created to solve these problems. Okeikosumi-Charcoal is used repeatedly without being burned. It is used in teaching and home use these days because it is a good training method when combined with experience in using real charcoal, which has been assembled to allow air to pass through it easily so that the fire can easily circulate.
Differences from Conventional Charcoal
The newest type is like a miniature sculpture.
Let us explain the difference between conventional and newer types of practice charcoal. There are two types of conventional practice charcoal products.
One is a die-cut plastic product. These products lack realism in shape and have a slippery surface.
The other product is charcoal infused with resin. The surface is realistic, but the center of gravity is unstable and the charcoal is often assembled from smaller pieces. The weight of the resin surrounding the charcoal makes it much heavier than the real thing, and even the slightest chip can cause charcoal dust to gradually appear.
We have overcome these problems with our newest type of clean practice charcoal, which is as realistic as a miniature sculpture, lightweight, non-slip, and dust-free.
The Latest Technology for Making Dust-Free Practice Charcoal
Reproduction of chrysanthemum charcoal by 3D model.
Recent technological innovations have rapidly increased the accuracy with which humans can reproduce three-dimensional shapes. This is due to technologies such as 3D scanning and 3D printing.
In this new product, we carefully select the finest Kiku charcoal, especially straight charcoal that is easy to assemble in a charcoal funnel, pre-process it, repeatedly scan it with ultra-high precision from multiple directions, and post-process the data to acquire an ideal 3D model of the practice charcoal. We then take the time to carefully 3D print each piece of charcoal in a laminated mold, without damaging this complex shape by die-cutting or any other reason.