"The etymology of the word 'God' in English is totally different from the Japanese word kami, and has a completely different sense," says master charcoal burner Hironori Takebayashi, in his deep, laconic voice.
It's a winter evening and red embers glow in the large ceramic hibachi around which we are warming ourselves after a day of work at his bamboo charcoal kiln. The low flame provides the only light, and we occasionally add pieces of the light black sticks of sumi to the softly clinking fire. Around the inside rim of the circular hibachi lean short sections of freshly cut bamboo filled with warming sake, imbued with the subtle, green, spicy aroma of this, the strongest plant in the botanical kingdom.
The charcoal smell is pungent and sultry -- an entrancing odor, like old forests.