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Stories of Mountain Life 32: Father Makes Charcoal 2/2

森野　花

2026年4月18日 05:51

English Reading Aloud

< This series is
a fictional story based on a real family that lived in a mountain village after the war. >

Day 2: Pre-drying Continues

Father observed the color and smell of the smoke coming from the chimney, then
opened the chimney slightly and added small twigs for fuel.

Before long, the smoke turned into white steam containing water vapor, but
the charcoal material still needed more time to dry.

He needed to slowly raise the temperature of the entire kiln to 400°C so that only the fuel twigs would burn, and the charcoal material would turn into charcoal without burning away.
It is necessary to slowly raise the temperature of the entire kiln to 400°C so that only the fuel twigs burn and the charcoal material turns into charcoal without burning.

If there is too much oxygen, the temperature will get too high, and the charcoal material will burn and turn to ash.
On the other hand, if the temperature is too low, it will be undercooked.

He adjusts the oxygen by using the air vent under the firebox and by opening or closing the chimney.

Day 3: Carbonization of the Charcoal Material Begins

Yellow smoke began to spew from the chimney.
It had a harsh, sour, and strong smell.
The charcoal material was being heated and starting to turn into charcoal.

He stopped adding fuel twigs and blocked the firebox.
He kept the air vent narrowed.

The work of adjusting the temperature while watching the smoke continued.
He couldn't take his eyes off it, sometimes blocking the chimney slightly with an empty can, other times opening it fully.

When the charcoal material turns into charcoal, he wants to keep the temperature as low as possible, around 400°C.

Grandpa from Mother's side of the family came to check on things.
He is Father's mentor in charcoal making.

The mentor says,
"Don't rush. Charcoal making is slow, slow.
You're a bit short-tempered, you know..."

I haven't heard that the mentor himself is particularly patient, though.

Day 4: Refining

The wood gas accumulated inside the kiln is burned, and impurities remaining in the charcoal are removed at a high temperature of 1000°C. This is the final process called refining.

The smoke has turned white. It is billowing out in large quantities.

As more time passes, the smoke from the chimney has taken on a bluish tint. When I open the firebox and peek inside the kiln, the charcoal material is glowing red. At that point, I open the narrowed air vent to let in oxygen and begin the refining process.

Looking inside the kiln, I can see flames making a sound like an animal growling. What is burning is the wood gas released from the charcoal material. The hot air of the gas, which explodes upon reacting with oxygen, raises the temperature of the kiln to over 1000°C, burning away the impurities remaining in the charcoal material.

Since there is no oxygen in this hot air, the charcoal material does not burn into ash. This task will likely take about eight hours.

Those flames and blue smoke are also blowing out from the air vent of the firebox.

This backflow of blue smoke, called "blowback," is proof that the gas is swirling and exploding as it takes in oxygen, and if this does not happen, you cannot make good charcoal.

Good charcoal has no impurities and produces neither smoke nor odor when lit.

However, Yuki-chan, who came to check on things after school, was terrified.

I never imagined the inside of the kiln would be like this... It's hot! It's scary!

"It's so scary!"

But I want to see... "Stay back. Stay further back!" Even though Father yelled at me, I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Grandpa also told me, "Stay still in the back." Grandpa has been staying over since last night to keep an eye on things.

By the time evening arrived, the smoke turned pale blue and eventually became like transparent heat haze.

The charcoal material inside the kiln had turned reddish-white all the way to the bottom, and the animal-like growling sound had stopped.

When I poked a stick through the air vent and knocked over the charcoal wood,
a hard, metallic sound of "clatter, jingle" echoed inside the kiln.

The charcoal was finished.
After confirming that, Grandpa went home.

Sealing the kiln... airtight

Father blocked all the air inlets and outlets, such as the chimney, the firebox, and the air vents,
and returned with a tired face after it had gotten quite dark.

The charcoal hut across from our house was now quiet and still, with no more smoke,
and all that was left was to wait for the charcoal to extinguish completely.
Tonight, Father can finally sleep soundly.

Unloading the kiln

Two weeks after lighting the fire

Father took the finished charcoal out of the kiln,
and went back and forth between the charcoal hut and our house many times to stack it in the shed.

It feels strange that the terrifying kiln, which had been burning bright red,
is now completely silent.

"We made some good charcoal."

Mother, smiling,
lit the shichirin stove with the freshly made charcoal,
and is making the curry that Father likes.

Yuki-chan is drawing an early bath
for Father, who has become covered in soot.

The baby, Fumi-chan, is happily sucking on her fingers.

Winter is almost here.

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