Dating back over 300 years to the Edo period in 17th century Japan, the artisanal process of hand-making Binchotan has been passed down from generation to generation. During the Genroku era, Binchotan was invented by a craftsman named Binch-ya Chozaemon, who started to produce it in Tanabe, Wakayama, in Japan.Binchotan Charcoal has been used for hundreds of years, serving many functions such as cooking fuel, air purifier, fertiliser and water filter. However, it wasn’t until the last century that Western Scientists really started to study its chemical makeup. Read more about our proprietary Scientific Research HERE.

As more and more people around the world caught on to this innovative concept and began using Binchotan charcoal, the less sustainable Japan’s limited resource became. As a result, more Binchotan artisans emerged, mainly around Asia, and in the case of KURO-Bō’s, began sustainably harvesting branches from indigenous trees to produce Binchotan, using the age-old Japanese carbonisation and activation process outlined HERE.