What Makes Japanese Incense Different?
Fairly often, someone tells us with real conviction that they don't like incense. What they don't like, it nearly always turns out, is a memory: a college apartment, a thick grey ribbon of smoke, a headache by nine o'clock.
Japanese incense is a different thing altogether, and the short answer to why is that there is no stick inside it. Much of the incense sold in the West is a paste rolled around a thin sliver of bamboo, and when it burns, the bamboo burns too, which accounts for a good deal of the smoke. Japanese incense is made of nothing but the fragrant material itself, so it burns with less smoke, smells closer to the wood or resin it came from, and is finished in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
How is Japanese incense made?
Aromatic woods such as sandalwood and agarwood are ground to a powder with spices, resins and herbs, then bound with the powdered bark of the tabu tree, an evergreen in the laurel family that holds everything together and burns evenly with very little scent of its own. The mixture is kneaded into a dough, pressed into thin strands much as noodles are, cut to length, and left to dry slowly.
What you light is solid incense from end to end. That is why a Japanese stick is so slender, why it can be snapped in half when you only want ten minutes of it, and why all it leaves behind is a fine line of ash.
Where does Japanese incense come from?
A surprising amount of it comes from one island. Awaji sits in the Seto Inland Sea between Honshu and Shikoku, and today it produces roughly seventy percent of Japan's incense. The Nihon Shoki, one of the country's oldest chronicles, records that in the year 595 a log drifted ashore there, and when the islanders put it on the fire as ordinary driftwood, the smoke was so fragrant that the wood was presented to the court of Empress Suiko. It was agarwood, and the island has been bound up with incense ever since. The makers there also credit the steady west wind, which dries the sticks the way they like them dried.
Much of the incense on our own shelves is made on Awaji or with its makers, including the HA KO paper leaves, the Kunjudo strips, the Aroma Cord, and the incense inside every Hibi match.
Why do people say you listen to incense?
In kōdō, the Japanese way of incense, which is counted among the classical arts alongside the tea ceremony and flower arranging, the verb is not "to smell." One listens to incense. The expression is mon-kō, and it describes the kind of attention the thing asks for: you sit still, the scent arrives gradually, and for a few minutes it is the only item on the agenda.
We are not suggesting anyone take up a five-hundred-year-old art form on a Tuesday. The idea carries over nicely into ordinary life, though. A stick lit at the desk at four in the afternoon, or in the hallway before guests arrive, is a small act of dailiness, and it costs less than a coffee.
Which Japanese incense should you start with?
It depends on how much time you have and how much equipment you are willing to own. Japanese makers have been inventive about format, and our obsessive curation of this particular shelf reflects it.
If you have ten minutes and no holder, start with Hibi incense matches. Each stick is a match: you strike it on the box, the flame goes out by itself, and you rest it on the small mat that comes inside. It burns for about ten minutes, in scents that include yuzu, Japanese cypress and sandalwood, and a box of eight is fourteen dollars. It is the one we hand to people who claim not to like incense.
If you would rather not burn anything at all, there is paper. HA KO makes incense in the shape of a leaf from washi paper, and a leaf left out on a dish will quietly scent a bedside table or an entryway for up to three months; lit, it smolders for about seven minutes. The wooden box of five holds one leaf of each scent and is the version people give as a present. Kunjudo's paper strips are slimmer and printed with a few words, "Deep Breath" among them, and they tend to end up inside letters.
The Aroma Cord is the peculiar one. It is two meters of washi cord that you burn by the length, a few centimeters for a short pause or rather more for a long evening, with a brass clip to stop it wherever you like. It can also be tied into knots, which changes how it burns and gives restless hands something to do.
For a traditional stick, Ballon in Tokyo makes boxes of twenty that come with their own small holder and burn for around twenty-five minutes each. Angel Ladder, named for the shafts of light that break through cloud, smells of clove, sandalwood and neroli. And for a whole afternoon there is the camphor coil from Kusu Handmade, a small workshop in Saga Prefecture built around a single tree, the kusunoki. One coil lasts about two hours and smells cool, woody and faintly medicinal in the best sense, and it happens to be bound with the same tabu bark as the sticks.
Will Japanese incense give me a headache?
Smoke is smoke, and we would rather be honest about that than promise a miracle. Japanese incense produces a good deal less of it and tends to be far easier to live with, but the sensible habits still apply: burn one at a time, leave a window open a little, and choose a short format before a long one. If you are very sensitive, an unlit HA KO leaf gives you the fragrance with no smoke whatsoever.
The best way to choose is to come in and smell them. We are at 125 East 17th Street, near Gramercy Park, open seven days a week, and the whole incense shelf is online for everyone else.
Questions we get asked
What is the difference between Japanese incense and Indian incense?
Japanese incense has no bamboo core. It is made entirely of ground aromatic woods, resins and spices bound with tabu bark, so it gives off less smoke and a subtler scent. Indian-style incense is usually rolled around a thin bamboo stick, which burns along with the fragrance and makes for a heavier, smokier and longer burn.
How long does Japanese incense burn?
It depends on the format. Kunjudo paper strips burn for about five minutes, HA KO paper leaves for about seven, Hibi incense matches for about ten, a short Ballon stick for about twenty-five, and a Kusu Handmade camphor coil for about two hours.
Do I need an incense holder?
Not always. Hibi matches come with a heat-resistant mat, HA KO box sets include a felt burning mat, Kunjudo strips and the Aroma Cord come with a metal clip, and Ballon sticks come with a small holder. For anything else, a proper holder or a heatproof dish on a non-flammable surface is enough.
How do you burn Japanese incense?
Light the tip, let the flame catch for a few seconds, then blow or fan it out so that only a glowing ember remains. Set it in its holder away from drafts and anything flammable, and never leave it unattended. A solid Japanese stick can be snapped in half if you want a shorter burn.
Can you enjoy incense without burning it?
Yes. HA KO paper incense leaves release their scent unlit and can be left out on a dish as potpourri for up to three months. Kunjudo paper strips can be slipped into a letter, a gift or a journal.
Where can I buy Japanese incense in New York?
Takamichi Beauty Room carries Japanese incense from Hibi, HA KO, Kunjudo, Ballon and Kusu Handmade at 125 East 17th Street, near Gramercy Park in Manhattan, and online at takamichibeautyroom.com. The shop is open seven days a week, and domestic shipping is free on orders over seventy-five dollars.