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| Fifth review - - scroll down for earlier |
Mainichi Koh (or Mainichikoh or Mainichi-koh) is the oldest, most popular, and most famous Japanese incense. The name means "everyday incense", and introduced the notion to the Japanese public of an incense that could be enjoyed for itself, rather than as part of an elite game for the rich (the "way of fragrance" or
kodo).
It is made and sold today by Nippon Kodo, a company which claims an incense making lineage back to 1575. That claim needs to be considered carefully, as the Nippon Kodo company was established rather more recently - in 1965. The connection to the 1575 date appears to come via the
Kojo company, which is now
owned by Nippon Kodo. The Kojo company traces its history back to an incense maker, Juuemon Koju, who opened a store (presumably in 1575 -
this source says "late 16th century) called Ginza Koju.
Mainichikoh was not developed by Nippon Kodo. It was developed by
Kito Tenkundo in 1909. Kito Tenkundo is another Japanese incense company that was later acquired by Nippon Kodo. It appears that Nippon Kodo is the Japanese incense equivalent of British brewery
Greene King (nicknamed Greedy King) which has a reputation for buying up smaller breweries, taking their popular brands, and then closing them down; or the huge international brewery company
AB InBev, which has done the same thing, but on a larger scale. Anyway. A Japanese incense company
Kokando, founded in Osaka in 1883, opened a Tokyo branch in 1944, which bought the rights to Mainichikoh from Kito Tenkundo shortly after the end of the Pacific War in 1945. It was the Toyko branch of Kokando which split away from the main company and formed Nippon Kodo in 1965, based on the financial power acquired by the purchase of Mainichikoh.
Mainichikoh is important because it changed the way that incense was made and sold in Japan. It made incense more accessible and popular. It influenced other Japanese incense houses to make their own "everyday incense". As a scent, it is somewhat unremarkable. It is its history, popularity, and status that makes it stand out as an incense to try.
The sticks are thin extruded
dhoop. A paste of sandalwood powder and makko powder (ground bark of the Japanese Bay - a laurel tree, which is used as a binder), is
mixed by machine, and then machine extruded and cut to length by hand. Colouring and additional fragrancing (oils) is done at the mixing stage. Though MainichiKoh is described as a sandalwood scent, there is something additional. Something herbal, perhaps patchouli. The green colouring of the stick is suggestive of either herbs or patchouli, or both. I note from my first review in 2018 I felt same as now that there was something herby and/or patchouli in the scent. Additionally, I feel that the scent is more dry than sweet, though there are sweet moments, and I recognise the floral and almond notes I have previously noted. Indeed, almond seems to be the heart note, with the patchouli and sandalwood as the base, and mild herbs and faint, sweet florals as the top notes. To make things interesting there's also some vanilla, some mint, and a hint of black tea and bergamot.
I have been impatient with Asian incense over the years - perhaps because I started off with the more heady Indian incenses; or perhaps because I enjoy food, music, and art that is bold, colourful, and passionate; or perhaps a mix of the two. But I have been exploring Japanese and Chinese incense recently, and though delicate perfumed wood powder is not my favourite type of incense, I have learned to become patient and become as one with the gentle fragrance of Asian incense. For a basic, low cost, perfumed sandalwood powder incense, this is delicate, attractive, and rewards attention. Yeah, it's not bad.
Date: April 2025 Score: 34
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| Fourth review |
Mainichikoh, which means "everyday incense" was introduced in 1912 [2025 update - it now appears that it was introduced in 1909], and is Nippon Kodo's best-selling incense, and the best-selling incense in Japan. It is a delicate sandalwood with almond and floral notes. Quite gentle and pleasant. For me, I find it hard to escape from the scorching wood smell which I find common to East Asian incense - it's the smell you get when an electric saw has cut through a board. I like that scent, but find it quite limited, and at times with cruder examples I find it a little objectionable. Here, I find it acceptable and likeable, but on a modest level. "Everyday", seems an appropriate name. There's nothing special here, though because the smell is quite modest and quite clean and quite simple, it's acceptable as a modest everyday room freshener.
Date: Nov 2024 Score: 25
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| Third review |
After going though a
Shoyeido Magnifiscents Gems/Jewels Sampler I'm revisiting all my Japanese incense reviews. On the whole I'm no more impressed now than I was first time round. It's slightly harsh and dry and spicy in the manner of a Tibetan incense - more kind of worthy than aesthetic. And the sticks are very mild so they don't make much of an impression on the room or the mind. The sticks do look pretty as they burn.
Occasionally, as I waft the smoke in my direction, I get the hint of something more than just garden greenery burning, sometimes there's a hint of something floral, and maybe even something sweet. But it's very vague and then it goes. Marking the score down.
Date: Feb 2023 Score: 23
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| Second review |
Modest and slightly smoky sandalwood incense from Nippon Kodo. It's a fairly basic sandalwood scent, a little damp and heavy, and there's little distinctiveness about it. There's burning wood, a bit ashy, and little of the sweet creaminess or musty sexiness I get from the sandalwood incenses I enjoy. Not sure where I got this from, and perhaps it's old. I was doing a bit of a tidy up when I found it in a packet of incenses I got from Padma Store last year. But there's only a few sticks left, and I don't recall previously burning it. Perhaps it dropped in there by mistake. Ho hum. Not my thing anyway. I had a look online, and some folks like it. It's a top seller as well. Each to their own.
Viva is the same incense as Mainichi-koh, though they come in different packaging.
Date: Feb 2023 Score: 23
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| First review (with upside down lid) |
Nippon Kodo are one of the main Japanese incense producers, with a claim that the company has been
producing incense for over 400 years. Mainichi-koh is their
best known and best selling product. It is a sandalwood incense, though it is rather more herbal than woody, and is rather sharper than the soft, dreamy, musky, sweet scent that I associate with sandalwood. This is much more like patchouli or cannabis - kinda similar, but more herbal than woody. The herbal quality is not to my liking - it feels too crude and rootsy, like Tibetan incense. There is wood here, though closer to cedarwood than sandalwood.
The box and packaging are attractive. There are 300 thin green coloured dhoop sticks which need a special holder with small holes, or they can be placed in sand or very soft earth. The name Mainichi-koh roughly translates as "
everyday incense". Dhoop is a dried paste formed from a mix of fragrant ingredients, binders and combustible material, such as wood powder - it is the older form of Indian incense that was passed on to other Asian countries while India went on to wrap incense paste around bamboo sticks, which has become the most common method of burning incense. India still makes dhoop - though mostly it is fat sticks, particularly fat wet sticks, but they also make thin dry sticks, like
Padmini and
Panchavati. Those are among my favourite incenses.
I'm not quite getting on with these Japanese sticks/dhoop due to their harshness and crude herbal manner. But, given their wide popularity, I will give them another go soon.
Date: Oct 2018 Score: 27
Average of five reviews: 26
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