Kōdō – Path of Fragrance

“A piece of wood floating on the water washed up on the shores near Awaji Island in the third year of the Suiko Era (595 AD). When the islanders lit a fire with this wood, an indescribable fragrance rose into the air. and the islanders were amazed. The wood they had burned was brought to the capital and presented to Empress Suiko. Prince Shotoku, regent at the time, showed her that it was a rare, exotic treasure: it was agarwood, the origin of incense”.

This is the oldest description of frankincense trees in Japan, however frankincense arrived from China to Japan at the same time as Buddhism.

Kōdō (香道) or ” Way of Fragrance ” is the art of appreciating the aroma of incense within a coded behavior structure. Kōdō includes all aspects of the incense process, from the tools (kōdōgu 香道具), to activities such as incense matching games (kumikō 組香 and genjikō (源氏香).

Arriving in Japan along with Buddhism, it was known as “prayer incense” and became the scent of life for the nobles of the Heian period . Time later, it became known as the ” aroma of elegance “. The nobles of the Imperial Court found poetic inspiration in “hearing the fragrance” of the aromatic woods. They enjoyed breathing aromas of fine incense, as one enjoys good wines or music. Incense became popular at court and soon spread among the ruling class.

It is a fragrant inscription typical of the Heian period were the “”Six Kinds of Scented Things” (Mukusa no Takimono), the six of plum blossoms, kayo, kikka, deciduous, chamberlain, and kurobo seed. In ” The Chronicles of Genji ” by Murasaki Shikibu incense is a frequent motif throughout the book.

The action of “Kodo” is “calm” and in its elegant stillness hides the weight of history over a thousand years and a very high degree of sensitivity. Among the five human senses, it can be said that ” Kōdō “, which has the sense of smell as the main character, was created by the unique delicate sensitivity of the Japanese people.

Like the Sadō (茶道Tea Ceremony) and Ikebana (華道), the Kōdō or “incense ceremony” is an important tradition in Japan.

We use the expression “listening to incense” to describe the delicate process of enjoying the subtle fragrance of a small piece of scented wood or incense.
Taking the bowl in our palms, the soft aroma invites us to use all our senses, a process also known as “Mon-koh” or incense appreciation.

During the Muromachi period, when incense became popular, delicate identification was required for scented trees that had different scents. Therefore, it was systematized as a fragrance classification method.
Fragrance trees are classified into six categories: Kyara, Rakoku, Shinnanban, Mana, Sasora, and Sunmondara , based on the name of the place of origin, and the scents are sour or pungent , bitter, and sweet .

Incense is made by grinding aromatic wood into a powder. This powder is then kneaded together with the traditional medicinal herbs and other ingredients and molded into the desired shape, usually stick or stick, cone or spiral.