Japanese incense

Japanese incense is much admired by some folks, particularly American. A number of the major Japanese incense companies have opened a branch in America, though not in Europe or other places.  The relationship between America and Japan puts me in mind of the relationship between Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, where Rome, after conquering Greece, admired and fell in love with Greek culture.  

Japan acquired an interest in the rituals and ceremonies of incense burning with the introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century during the Asuka period when Japan went through a number of changes. From what I can gather, incense burning from the start was a refined and expensive practise, largely confined to royal courts. Agarwood was the preferred scent - there is a story from Japanese history of an agarwood log washing up on a beach, and then being presented as a gift to Empress Suiko.  As such, most Japanese incense is wood based  - mainly sandalwood and agarwood. The more expensive incenses are more likely to use agarwood, while the more everyday incenses will just use sandalwood. The ingredients in Japanese dhoops are similar to Indian incense - there are binders and burners, such as the bark of the Machillus Tree (or Tabunoki), which is called tabuko in Japan and makko in both Japan and India, and spices, woods, resins, herbs, etc. Where Japanese incense mainly differs is that in India incense burning is a casual everyday multi-use activity by the majority of the population, while in Japan it is a more occasional and more considered activity, and only used by around 40% of the population. The Japanese incense market is worth around $20 million a year, while the Indian incense market is worth nearly $1 billion a year. Given that the population of India is considerably larger than that of Japan  (India 1.4 billion - Japan 125 million), with a smaller available proportion of the population (40%) it can be seen that Japanese incense makers need to focus on quality rather than quantity in order to make a decent profit. The Japanese incense buyer is looking for and expecting quality, and is prepared to pay a higher price for it.  As such the ingredients for Japanese incense tend to be (or, at least, are assumed to be) better quality and more expensive, and there are fewer cheaper ingredients or shortcuts used. Plus costs like labour, tax, transport, etc are higher in Japan than other incense making countries. Indian incense can be simply cheap and functional - the joss stick format of a bamboo stick to hold the fragrant ingredients enables incense to be robust and easily used; it is convenient and useful with the bamboo holding the incense together and also proving a useful holder which can be placed casually around the house in plant pots or convenient holes without the need for a special incense holder. With so much casual, everyday Indian incense there is some uncertainty when purchasing as to if the incense will be good or poor quality. However, with fewer Japanese incense makers, and all those makers aiming mainly at "connoisseur" buyers rather than everyday buyers, there is more confidence that the product will be good quality, and created with a more considered appreciation of the fragrance than most everyday Indian incense. 

I have not yet really got to grips with Japanese incense - the expense coupled with my (admittedly limited) experience has not encouraged me to dig in and have a go - though  Shoyeido being willing to release some samplers has been helpful.  I'm gathering together here my limited experience of Japanese incense and looking to build on it over time. 

Japanese brands reviewed

Baieido (3) 

Gyokushodo (1)

Kameyama (1) 

Koukando (1)
Kunjudo (1) 
Nippon Kodo (6)
Okuno Seimeido (1) 

Shochikudo (1)  

Shorindo (1)

Shoyeido  (12)

Links

A Life With Incense - Japanese incense blog 

Useful Reddit user's summary of major Japanese houses 

Reviews

    

Incense houses

Baieido

Reviews: 3, Top score: 35, Low score: 29

Average: 31/50 

Nippon Kodo

Reviews: 6, Top score: 34, Bottom score: 20

Average: 28/50 

Shoyeido

Reviews: 13, Top score: 39, Bottom score: 20

Average:  26/50 

Individual sticks not reviewed as part of an incense house

Okuno Seimeido Ginsen Kunsui (D)
Mar 2025 - Score: 37/50

    

Kunjudo Karin (D)
Mar 2025 - Score: 35/50

   

Shochikudo Meiko Shiju
May 2025 - Score: 32/50

Kameyama Flower Aroma - Violet (P)
Jun 2026 - Score: 32/50

   

Gyokushodo Jinko Kojurin
Jun 2026 - Score: 28/50

   

Shorindo Chahana / Chabana
Tea Flower / Camellia (P)
Jun 2026 - Score: 26/50

  

Koukando Shin Sennenko / Sentoshika
May 2025 - Score: 22/50

Reviews: 29
Top score: 37
Bottom score: 20 

Average: 28/50 

Conclusion: I've not yet explored much Japanese incense, but what I have experienced hasn't encouraged me to explore further. I find Japanese incense to be quite dry and sombre, and with such a mild scent that it is easily overlooked. So far I've only tried the more reasonably priced incense, and even that I find relatively expensive compared to incense from other countries. The packaging, though, is very attractive. 

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Incense around the world