Sumi

Sumi is wood charcoal, it becomes zumi when next to a nother word lik shozumi.

Sumi- Namporoku #10, “…lay the charcoal so that it heats the water…”

Names and Sizes: ro/ furo-L. in shaku.sun.bu.ri (aprx. cm); one each except 2 gitcho , both kuda and wari-kuda in ro; 5 edazumi in ro shozumi, 3 all other times :

 

  • Wado: 0.2 (6.1cm) / 0.1.5 (4.5cm)
  • Dozumi: 0.5 (15.2cm) / 0.4 (12.1cm)
  • Gitcho: 0.2.5 (7.6cm) / 0.2 (6.1cm)
  • Wari-gitcho: “” / “”
  • Kuda-zumi: 0.5 (15.2cm) / 0.4 (12.1cm)
  • Wari-kuda: “”/””
  • Ten-zumi: 0.2.5 (7.6cm) / 0.2 (6.1cm)
  • Eda-zumi: 0.6 (18.2cm) / 0.5 (15.2cm)
  • Kogodai: 0.2.5 (7.6cm) / 0.2 (6.1cm)
  • makura-zumi = wari-gitcho

Practical Advice
In either ro or furo, three shitabi, gitcho size sumi pieces are lit (“fully”) and placed in hidoko.

In ro shogo, yobanashi, akatsuki, hango, atomi shozumi is immediately after aisatsu In furo shogo, shozumi is after kaiseki meal so some kufu (clever manuevering) is neccesary:

Use large shitabi, place them close together to cut air circulation; hope they last or start only part of shitabi and hope they last or set three black gitcho in the proper place of shitabi; set two or three smaller or half pieces of red hot burning charcoal in the spaces between the black gitchos and hope they burn up.

If all goes well, the burning pieces will catch the black gitcho and then disappear themselves. If they burn slowly and don’t disappear, or don’t catch the shitabi on fire, it can be embarassing if the guests want furochu haiken during Shoiri. Perhaps that is why Gengensai put the Guests off by asking them to wait for gozumi; but then you cannot easily do tsuzuki-usucha.

Furo- three shitabi, positioned so that when front one is moved to back, the center of the furo is center of three shitabi (There are other tricks in furo shogo chaji)

Ro- before the shitabi are added, the rodan will probably have been warmed with kuzu-zumi, junk charcoal. This should be removerd, the ro smoothed and then a thin layer of shimeshibai spread evenly over the top of the hai to form a damp surface. The shitabi are placed on this at the very last minute so the difference between the dry and damp ash can be apprecited by the Guests at shozumi.

The shitabi are placed in the same relative position (in 41/2 mat ro-kiri- at a diagonal)

Get another full set of shitabi and sumi burning and a kettle’s worth of water boiling if you find during the sumi temae that the shitabi have not caught or have gone or burnt out. Put sumi and ko in during the temae as if there is no problem, then repair during nakadachi.

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