Keywords
Architecture
Tea Houses
Lit. branch charcoal. A type of charcoal which is both ornamental and easy to ignite, used in either a sunken hearth *ro 炉, or portable brazier *furo 風炉, a tea ceremony. At a very simple tea ceremony wabicha わび茶, a small carbonized branch of oak, azalea, or camellia is used, but for more elaborate tea ceremonies, branch charcoal is painted white with lime. The size of a charcoal branch differs according to the school, but at Urasenke 裏千家, it is 18 cm long for the sunken hearth, and 15 cm long for portable brazier. Also shirozumi 白炭, tsugizumi 貢炭.
