Hibachi

The is a traditional Japanese heating device. It is a brazier which is a round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal. It is believed dates back to the Heian period. They are filled with incombustible ash with charcoal sitting in the center of the ash. To handle the charcoal, a pair of metal chopsticks called is used, in a way similar to Western fire irons or tongs. were originally used for heating, not for cooking. It heats by radiation, and is too weak to warm a whole room. Sometimes, people placed a over the to boil water for tea. Later, by the 1900s, some cooking was also done over the.
Traditional Japanese houses were well ventilated, so carbon monoxide poisoning or suffocation from carbon dioxide from burning charcoal were of lesser concern. Nevertheless, such risks do exist, and proper handling is necessary to avoid accidents. must never be used in airtight rooms such as those in Western buildings.
In North America, the term refers to a small cooking stove heated by charcoal, or to an iron hot plate used in restaurants.