Excite Your Senses with Japanese Incense

Japanese Incense: Delightful & Unique

Overview

Japanese incense is used first for religious rituals. Incense is used to purify surroundings or a sacrificial offering. Incense was also important for anointing the dead and driving away evil spirits.

History

If you have bought genuine Japanese incense, you must have bought these from a 300 year old incense company. That is how old the incense business is in Japan. This has to do with the spread of Zen Buddhism from China to Japan and other Asian countries in AD 538. At the start, the Japanese imported their incense from China and new varieties and blends of incense were introduced later by Ganjin, a Chinese Buddhist priest.

In Japan, the use of incense was primarily for religious rituals but the practice was also picked up for non-religious use in the homes of royalty, nobles and the wealthy. This was called empty burning to separate it from burning incense as a religious ritual.

The Japanese started making incense and added some improvements. Currently, Japan is famous for its hardwood incense. Before that, the Japanese used China’s version of the incense blends. As practice made perfect, Japan opened schools that appreciated the use of incense – Shino and Oie.

But as the western influenced, incense was not popular with the young generation. However, there is a growing appreciation of incense in Japan and all over the world in the age of the mobile phones and the Internet.

Types of Incense

Japanese incense comes in seven types. The most popular are the joss stick, coil, cones, balls, and wood chips. Of these types, the cone incense is relatively new but can withstand shipping overseas. For elaborate incense preparation, wood chip incense is used. For longer lasting incense, people use the coil type. The blended incense balls give off a heady aroma of plum meat and honey. There are several incense blends used for this type of incense.

The aromatic materials used for incense include sandalwood, agarwood or aloeswood, benzoin resin, borneo camphor, cinnamon, clover, frankincense, and patchouli.

Incense Brands

One of the more popular brands of Japanese incense is the Nippon Kodo’s Morning Star and Kokandu, which follow the 400 years old tradition in preparing incense. Baeiedo incense is another favorite Japanese incense brand. Baieido also has a line of smokeless incense which is fine for yoga sessions and meditations. Smokeless incense is also preferred gifts for temples.

Japanese incense is sold in wholesale, boxes, and singles. Incense sold 200 or 400 apiece per box includes ceramic or porcelain burner. These incense come in different types and scents such as amber, cinnamon, pine, patchouli, and lavender. Other scents available are musk, spices, and rare aromatic woods. Kokandu, another incense brand, also follows the 400 year old tradition in preparing incense.

There are several brands of Japanese incense but if you wish to try the classics, get a Kodo and Kokandu. These are also sold online by authorized online stores. If you are buying online, choose your favorite scents. However, incense should not be used if you have respiratory problems.
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