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The shichirin is a small charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

 grill

Grill (cooking)

A barbecue grill is a device for cooking food by applying heat directly from below. There are several varieties of such grills, with most falling into one of two categories: gas-fueled and charcoal. There is a great debate over the merits of charcoal or gas for use as the cooking method between...

.

Description

The shichirin is a lightweight, compact, and easy-to-move cooking stove. Charcoal is chiefly used for the fuel of shichirin. It has had prototypes since ancient times, and it is said that shichirin roughly the same as today's were made in the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. Old shichirin are mainly ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

 and many can be found in old houses. Most modern shichirin are made by heating diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth also known as diatomite or kieselgur/kieselguhr, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 1 micrometre to more than 1 millimetre, but typically 10 to...

, but the raw materials are not uniform. There are also shichirin such as those made with a double inside and outside ceramic structure. The shape is mainly cylindrical, square, or rectangular, and the size also varies. Many varieties of shichirin are made for different uses. In the Kansai region, they are also known as "kanteki".

North American "hibachi"

In North America, small BBQ cooking stoves resembling shichirin are referred to as "hibachi

Hibachi

The is a traditional Japanese heating device. It consists of a round, cylindrical or a box-shaped open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal....

" or "hibachi-style", which in Japanese refers to a small heating device which is not usually used for cooking. It has been suggested that these grills were confusingly marketed as "hibachi" when they were introduced to North America. The word "hibachi" is also misused in some parts of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to refer to Japanese steak houses or teppanyaki

Teppanyaki

is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. The word teppanyaki is derived from teppan , which means iron plate, and yaki , which means grilled, broiled or pan-fried...

 "iron hot plate" restaurants.

Use

Shichirin can be used for about 4 hours, with only a small amount of charcoal. Binchōtan

Binchotan

is a mascot character, created by Japanese manga artist and produced by game goods company Alchemist.The name is a play on words: is a kind of charcoal, which is mainly used for cooking. However, -tan is a suffix created by the mispronunciation of -chan...

is the most suitable for fuel for shichirin.