Ue Toshikatsu

Tales of a Charcoal Burner narrates the day to day life of young Toshikatsu Ue, who, following family tradition, devotes himself to the hard labor of the titular profession in Wakayama Prefecture. The protagonist shows the laborious process of manufacturing charcoal in first person and strikes up a conversation with the reader through stories of his daily life and folk tales handed down in the region since antiquity.