We began living in Kawamata, Kamibun around the end of June this year.  We moved into a house that had been empty for 2 years and although generally it was in good condition there were a couple of features that need some restoration.  One of the best things about this house is the kamado, the wood fired stove.  I think while living in the countryside cooking on a wood fired stove is the perfect solution.

There is plenty of free fuel, the stove will dry the house out in the humid summer months, warm the place in winter, keep the insects away and apparently rice cooked on a kamado taste best…(kamado look wonderful too).  So we’ve always wanted to use it but it needed a little fixing up.  The chimney required a special cap to prevent embers flying everywhere and the right ‘hob’ needed some heavy repair.

It had been in the back of mind to try and fix it since we moved in but it wasn’t a priority so I let it go.  Step up Kamada san.  He has been incredibly generous with his time and energy and he has a great DIY attitude.  He says to us ‘don’t buy anything, use what you have’.  He turns up one day (he usually just appears at the perfect time) with some cement (yes he did buy that..) and fixed the kamado.  He says ‘testo testo’.  This is just a test to see how it works.  Personally, I might have used clay but then I didn’t find time to fix it so fair’s fair.  It looks like this now:

The other thing that needed a fix was the chimney cap.  In wooded areas like this it’s the law to have a special no sparks cap.  It makes sense of course.  We’d been scratching our heads wondering how to make something like this.  The typical shape is an ‘H’ like this:

But they are expensive and require fairly advanced metal working techniques (that I don’t have).  It was all ok however; Kamada san popped out of the bushes with a DIY version crafted from a Cocsec Mosquito coil tin and some bits of steel.  Amazing!

Inspirational work Kamada san!  You deserve a beer or 10.
We’ve been to his place in the Minami-something district of Kamibun.  It’s an old hardware shop that he has expanded and renovated.  The main shop area has been cleared and made into one large doma with a concrete floor.  He has a wood burning stove that he can cook on and a huge irori mounted on wheels!  He really likes old Japanese design and his shelves are full of old artifacts.

Shamefully, I still haven’t found a moment to try the kamado… I’ll go and do that just now.