[Photo provided to China Daily]

"The burning binchotan quickly seals in the meat's moisture, enhancing the flavor in a way that other charcoals can't," Takashi says.

He has developed this method since when he became a chef 30 years ago, he says, and it takes him about 30 minutes to cook a 250g, 2 cm thick wagyu sirloin cut.

A smidgen of rock salt is sprinkled onto the meat during grilling, he said.

The grilling itself is undertaken with meticulous care. I watched Takashi first cook the sirloin for one or two minutes and then remove it from the grill to allow it to rest for several minutes. Then he returned it to the grill and continued cooking it, and repeated this process four more times.

While grilling, he adjusted the heat of the charcoal manually, constantly waving a fan over the meat.

When the cut of meat was finally taken off the grill he wrapped it in foil.

"This helps it hold the juices as well as its heat," he says.