The surface and bulk chemistry of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria Japonica), cotton cellulose and lignin samples carbonized at 500-1,000 degrees C was investigated by elemental analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and micro-Raman spectrometry. The objective was to link the original wood components to the final carbonized wood microstructures. The carbonized samples show increasing degrees of order from cellulose to wood to lignin. The cellulose component in the wood strongly affects the ordering of polyaromatic carbons in carbonized wood; this ordering is attributed primarily to the difference in ratio between aromatic and aliphatic carbons and to the amount of cross-linking by ether and carboxylic groups up to 500 degrees C.