Ro and furo (hearth and brazier)
The two heat arrangements of a chanoyu room and the seasonal alternation between them. The ro is a hearth cut into the floor and used in the cold months; the furo is a portable brazier set on the mats and used in the warm ones. The functional difference is distance — the sunken hearth puts the fire nearer the guest and the brazier puts it further away.
Identity
- Category
- Accessory
- Native name
- 炉 / 風炉
- Romanised
- ro, furo, fuuro
- Also called
- sunken hearth, portable brazier, tea room hearth
- Material
- Clay, iron or bronze for the furo; a lined recess in the floor for the ro
- Skill level
- Advanced
Porosity
Not porous. It contributes nothing of its own to the liquor, so it can be moved between teas freely and washed with detergent without consequence.
Where it comes from
Japanese, and specific to chanoyu. The Chinese charcoal stove recorded at `equip-charcoal-brazier` shares fuel and physics with the furo and belongs to a different practice; the romanisation overlap between the two is a naming coincidence and not a shared object.
Named here rather than presented as generic equipment. The object belongs to a practice, and TeaHQ describes it from the outside.
If you do not own one
An electric element, for anyone making matcha at home. Neither arrangement changes the water; the seasonal switch is about how a room is arranged around its guests.
This one is not marked essential. The tea can be made without it.
Brewing methods it is used for
- Whisking (bowl-prepared powdered tea) — Powdered leaf suspended in water rather than steeped and strained — the only common preparation in which the leaf itself is consumed rather than discarded.
- Koicha (thick matcha) — Matcha prepared thick enough to pour like paint rather than to whisk into foam. It is not a stronger version of everyday matcha but a separate preparation with its own motion, its own grade of powder and, in chanoyu, its own place in the sequence — and it is the older of the two.
Tea types it suits
Care and maintenance
Charcoal indoors requires proper ventilation without exception. Clay furo bodies crack if heated damp, and ash should be allowed to cool completely before it is handled or stored.
Other accessorys
- Alcohol burner
- Cha dao utensil set
- Cha he (tea presentation vessel)
- Charcoal brazier (fenglu)
- Cup stand (chatuo)
- Electric ceramic tea stove
- Futaoki (lid and ladle rest)
- Hishaku (bamboo water ladle)
- Induction plate
- Kensui (waste water vessel)
- Kusenaoshi (whisk stand)
- Mortar and pestle
- Podstakannik (glass holder)
- Ryoro (senchado charcoal stove)
- Stone tea mill
- Tea boat
- Tea cloth
- Tea cosy
- Tea mat (chaxi cloth)
- Tea pet
- Tea pick (cha dao)
- Tea tongs
- Tea tray (cha pan)
- Teapot warmer
- Waste water bowl (jianshui)
- Water cooling bowl (sukwoo)
- Water filter jug
- Yuzamashi (water cooler)
Sources
This page is TeaHQ synthesis. No external source stands behind the description, the material or the account of how the object is cared for. Where the record names a tradition, that attribution is TeaHQ’s own reading of common practice rather than a citation.
TeaHQ names no maker, brand or shop and has nothing to sell. Nothing on this page should be read as advice to buy the object — the substitute note above exists because owning it is usually optional.