A gift set of 20 traditional Japanese rice bran wax candles and a ceramic candle stand, packaged together in a clean white box printed with the Daiyo mark in Japanese brushstroke characters.
The candles are slim tapers — 80mm, hand-shaped using the Tegake technique, with a hollow wick of washi paper, rush weed, and silk fiber. Each burns for 40 minutes, cleanly and without dripping. Rice bran wax burns harder and brighter than paraffin, producing a larger, more stable flame with minimal smoke and almost no scent. The stand is a small square ceramic block with a spike at center — the traditional Japanese candle holder format, designed so the candle mounts from below and appears to stand freely in the air.
The set is the simplest possible introduction to Japanese candle culture: everything you need, nothing extraneous, in packaging that doesn't need to be hidden.
WHY IT'S SPECIAL
- Traditional Japanese taper candles in rice bran wax: harder than paraffin, burns cleaner, brighter, and longer with no drip and minimal smoke.
- Hollow washi paper wick: hand-wound with rush weed and silk fiber — produces a larger, steadier flame than a conventional cotton wick.
- Tegake handcraft technique: wax is applied layer by layer with bare hands, a skill that takes roughly ten years to master. Each candle shows the rings.
- Ceramic spike stand included: the Japanese candle mounting system — candle is impaled from below onto a central point, creating the characteristic floating appearance.
- 40 minutes per candle: long enough for a dinner, a bath, a meditation sit. Short enough to be deliberate about it.
- Complete, gift-ready: 20 candles, one stand, one beautifully spare box — nothing missing.
DETAILS
- 20 rice bran wax taper candles + 1 ceramic candle stand
- Material: rice bran wax; wick of washi paper, rush weed, silk fiber
- Length: 80 mm per candle
- Burn time: 40 minutes per candle
- Unscented, no added color
- Candle stand: ceramic, square base with iron spike
- Made in Shiga Prefecture, Japan
THE BRAND
Daiyo was established in 1914 in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture — home to Lake Biwa and a deep tradition of craft rooted in natural materials. Now in its fourth generation, the family business remains committed to making genuine Japanese candles from 100% vegetable wax, using the Tegake hand-layering technique in which wax is applied directly by bare hand and built up in repeated layers around the wick. It takes roughly ten years to become a skilled Tegake craftsman. It is said that fewer than ten such masters remain in Japan.
