Old Mountain Life

The Kamikatsu area in the mountains above Tokushima was once a charcoal production center, and four surviving kilns remain as evidence. The charcoal made here had to be carried nearly 20 kilometers down to the coast for sale, a route now recreated as a seven-kilometer restored trail between Mt. Takamaru and the old Kashihara settlement. Beyond charcoal, the local forests supplied water for farming, wild mushrooms and plants for food, and wood for tools, with different species used deliberately: cedar for rice storage, cypress for cutting boards, Japanese mountain cherry for doorsills. Live demonstrations of the full charcoal-making process run in November and December.