To prepare porous carbons with high adsorption capacity from rice straws, two different kinds of precursors, i.e. one as the raw rice straws (one-stage process) and the other as pre-carbonized rice straws (two-stage process), were activated with KOH of various impregnation ratios. The two-stage process was found very effective for manufacturing porous carbons with high surface area and adsorption capacities for MB and I-2. For example, the porous carbon that was carbonized at 700degreesC and subsequently activated at 900degreesC exhibited the surface area of 2410 m(2)/g, the adsorption capacities of 800 and 1720 mg/g for MB and I-2, respectively, and the total pore volume of 1.4 ml/g. In the two-stage method, there was a preferential optimum impregnation ratio of KOH to a precursor carbon. i.e. 4:1. with which high surface area of porous carbons could be achieved. The formation of uni- and bidentate carboxylic salt structure, induced by reaction between KOH and oxygen containing carbon, that facilitates the formation of azo group (-N=N-) on a subsequent heat treatment was considered as one of the key factors for the presence of optimum impregnation ratio of KOH. In contrast, the porous carbons of only moderate adsorption capacity could be obtained from the one-stage method. The original morphology of rice straw was sustained during the two-stage process, yet not during the one-stage process.