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TOKYO : Tokyo's famous Ginza district is home to the flagship stores of some high-end international brands and is a shoppers' paradise for Japanese traditional products.
One shop there focuses on a type of charcoal that the Japanese have used for centuries.
Wakayama Prefecture is famous for its high-quality charcoal, which is used to make black soap, black shampoo and treatment products, and black ornaments.
Binchotan charcoal was introduced to Japan by Japanese monk and scholar Kukai 1,200 years ago. And it was during the Edo Period that a man called Binchuya Chozaemon made it popular.
There are basically two types of charcoal. The black types are carbonised at up to 800 degrees. The white types are charred in temperatures up to 1,000 degrees, making it hard.
They can be used to cook delicious yakitori and eels, but this is not the case at a binchotan speciality shop called Tanagokoro.
Ginza tap water is not regarded as the best in Japan, but it has a nice smooth taste. This is because this water is filtered by binchotan which is known for its purifying effect.
The tea served at the speciality shop also uses this purified water.
Naomi Tsukamoto, executive director, Tanagokoro, said: "It enables you to cook fluffy rice. You can use it to deodorise your room. It has various functions and features which we have used to develop products."
They include ornaments for one tea room, for example. The panels, for example, are made of binchotan. And at a bar on the basement floor of the same building, the entire walls are mixed with binchotan.
One customer said: "It absorbs odours... it feels like the air is really fresh."
Another customer commented: "It brings me peace of mind."
The bar, the tea room and the shop together use 1.5 tonnes of binchotan charcoal.
Critics have said that consuming binchotan could impact the eco-system. But Tanagokoro claims that Wakayama's famed producer puts a limit to how much they can sell. - CNA/ms
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