"Tales of a Charcoal Burner" is a solemn story of a titular charcoal burner in rural japan in the post-war era. It's based on book "Diary of a Charcoal Burner" (Sumiyaki Nikki) which is the author's experience of working as a charcoal burner. The mangaka drew this manga from that book. It's a short read of an hour or so, and I think it's worth it to give it a read with an empty and open mind. It left me with a solemn feeling of melancholy and belonging. It paints a real picture of rural Japan. I myself relate to a rural background, so I know and understandmany of the feelings that are conveyed in the story, and it reminds me of my mother and grandmother. I felt at peace reading it.

It pictures the life and hardships of a charcoal burner really well, their work, hardships, activities, and thoughts. The titular charcoal burner talks about some incidents in his life. The feelings of melancholy and loneliness (and a certain calmness) he gets while living completely alone in the mountain, surrounded by the forests and wilderness. There is a beautiful comparison between the seasonal lives of wild animals and our main character.

I would be reading it again in the future