First off, sorry for the lack of posts this week, work and holidays often get in the way of my true interests, and I think most of my American readers were tied up similarly. So, on with the show.

Exhibited here is your typical Naga-Hibachi. Most Americans confuse the small metal barbecues that you can find in supermarkets (near the charcoal) which are actually called Shichiren with Hibachi. Apparently the confusion came about when shichiren were being introduced to the west, and the true name seemed to be too hard for us to pronounce. So, as with most things foreign, we decided to use an easier word to suit our needs, and hibachi must have rolled off the tongue easier. Even better, we also misuse the word hibachi to describe a flat iron grill which is actually called a teppan. You might be familiar with this cooking apparatus if you’ve eaten at Benihana’s. I could keep this train going, but I’ve gotten a little off topic.

A true hibachi is a wooden box that has a copper liner into which you place charcoal. Older versions were called hibitsu (fire coffer) and basically consisted of a hewn block of wood with clay lining the inside for fireproofing. While later versions (after the boxes) were sometimes round and made out of porcelain (round wooden versions were also popular). A hibachi is primarily used for a heat source to keep water hot for tea as well as providing the only heat source, outside of the kitchen, in a traditional home. You could use it to light your kiseru (pipe), or insert incense sticks for aroma. As tea was customarily served to guests, you usually hung out around the hibachi. The addition of drawers were used to hold items like tongs, your tobacco pouch, or tools for tea preparation.

Naga-hibachi represents the Kanto (basically Edo or Tokyo) regional version of the firebox. They usually had drawers down one side or along the bottom, or both as seen in the picture above. Any useable surface space was adjacent to the firebox and sometimes had a lid to cover storage compartements. Drawer handles were typically warabite (fern hand) with the wood being Keyaki (Japanese Elm). The joinery was typically hanken-shiki (finger joint), but hibachi were also one of the only types of household furnishings that could also have dovetail joints. The piece above states that it has dovetails, but I couldn’t see them in the pictures. For more info on this piece click here or on the picture. When I come accross the other styles, I will of course post about them.

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Tags: Edo, Naga-Hibachi, Shichiren, Warabite

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