After yet another different and delicious breakfast, our group gathered and taxied to the Shoyeido Incense Co. to learn how they make hand-blended incense. We are told that 1,400 years ago, a large piece of fragrant driftwood washed ashore on the tiny Japanese island of Awaji. Realizing the uniqueness of the marvelous fragrance emanating from the wood, island locals presented it as a gift to the Empress Suiko. With this gift of precious agarwood began a new era of refinement and appreciation for the enjoyment of fragrance. |
The burning of ground incense, in Japan, began during the 6th century (Asuka period) with the introduction of Buddhism. By the 8th century honey was added to the ground incense and made into small balls that were heated with already heated ash. Later still, the making of incense was refined into an art form. |
In the early 18th century, Rokubei Moritsune Hata began incorporating incense-making techniques he learned as an employee of Kyoto's Imperial Palace. He would eventually introduce a new world of scent to an audience beyond the realm of royalty. Twelve generations later, the Hata family continue to create an array of beautiful fragrances. Shoyeido incense is considered the highest quality, most natural incense available on Earth.
Shoyeido's blending process is an art form. Highly trained "masters" draw upon centuries-old secrets to create the fragrances. These artisans carefully process the quality, balance and ratio of every hand-selected natural ingredient using only the best raw materials. The slightest variation in amount or quality of any component dramatically influences the outcome. The subtle scents entice us to use all of our senses — what the Japanese call mon-koh ... "listening to incense." | Every incense company guards their recipes very carefully. |
Every incense company guards their incense recipes very carefully. Sadly, that meant I was unable to photograph the process.
We are told that fragrances are made from listening to one's heart; not smell. Many of Shoyeido's recipes have a foundation of sandalwood, which comes from India, along with a blend of other natural ingredients. Colored dyes are added with the powdered essences. At Shoyeido's lab , the codes are made into the recipe, then sent to the facility we are touring for mixing with water and a natural binding material called "tabuko" to form the "dough." The "dough" then goes to a machine to create thin pasta-like pieces of incense that hang from a thin dowel. Next, another skilled worker lays the pasta-like string of dough on a wooden board where it is trimmed with a bamboo "blade" to uniform lengths of "sticks." Afterwards, it is placed in a drying room for three days. At each stage of the above process, the precious scraps are reformed — nothing is wasted!
There are inspections for quality along the way. After drying, there are other workers who weigh and bundle the sticks of incense. Others hand-fold boxes to hold the incense, and finally still other workers fill the boxes.
Agarwood is also used as a foundation. It is a resinous wood, which is found only in Viet Nam and the Indonesia jungles. Kyara is the most resinous and highly prized type of agarwood. Because it can't be planted, its harvest and use is closely monitored by the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). And, though agarwood is not considered endangered, it is being closely watched.
Today, Buddhist temples use larger sticks of incense — some serve as "timers" for meditation — for instance, incense can have varying burn life (e.g. 3 hrs, 8hrs, etc.). Incense can also be used in making candies, in which case they are made with honey as a binding agent and for sweetness.
Like tea ceremony and flower arrangement, Koh-do or incense ceremony is an important tradition in Japan for the past five centuries. Koh-do is always presented by a licensed practitioner, who has graduated from koh schools. Most incense ceremonies involve a game in which participants attempt to guess the scent being burned. Though steeped in tradition and protocol, the ceremonies are primarily to have fun and learn to "listen" to incense.
We are told that fragrances are made from listening to one's heart; not smell. Many of Shoyeido's recipes have a foundation of sandalwood, which comes from India, along with a blend of other natural ingredients. Colored dyes are added with the powdered essences. At Shoyeido's lab , the codes are made into the recipe, then sent to the facility we are touring for mixing with water and a natural binding material called "tabuko" to form the "dough." The "dough" then goes to a machine to create thin pasta-like pieces of incense that hang from a thin dowel. Next, another skilled worker lays the pasta-like string of dough on a wooden board where it is trimmed with a bamboo "blade" to uniform lengths of "sticks." Afterwards, it is placed in a drying room for three days. At each stage of the above process, the precious scraps are reformed — nothing is wasted!
There are inspections for quality along the way. After drying, there are other workers who weigh and bundle the sticks of incense. Others hand-fold boxes to hold the incense, and finally still other workers fill the boxes.
Agarwood is also used as a foundation. It is a resinous wood, which is found only in Viet Nam and the Indonesia jungles. Kyara is the most resinous and highly prized type of agarwood. Because it can't be planted, its harvest and use is closely monitored by the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). And, though agarwood is not considered endangered, it is being closely watched.
Today, Buddhist temples use larger sticks of incense — some serve as "timers" for meditation — for instance, incense can have varying burn life (e.g. 3 hrs, 8hrs, etc.). Incense can also be used in making candies, in which case they are made with honey as a binding agent and for sweetness.
Like tea ceremony and flower arrangement, Koh-do or incense ceremony is an important tradition in Japan for the past five centuries. Koh-do is always presented by a licensed practitioner, who has graduated from koh schools. Most incense ceremonies involve a game in which participants attempt to guess the scent being burned. Though steeped in tradition and protocol, the ceremonies are primarily to have fun and learn to "listen" to incense.
After making purchases in Shoyeido's showroom, we headed to an incense making workshop at POJ Studio. First thought, we stopped in their beautiful store where I lusted after the gorgeous wooden dinnerware and cutlery made of rare striped ebony by Wataru Sakai, a woodcraft artisan based in Fukuoka, Japan. I did purchase for gifts some of their beautiful Leaf Incense - Sugi (cedar) with the scent of Japanese forests, shuro scrubbing brushes made from hemp palm by Yamamoto Katsuosuke Shoten in Wakayama Prefecture. |
After shopping, it was time to begin our two-hour incense making workshop. We learn that in the 6th century incense came to Japan via China and Korea through Buddhism. Incense can be found in stick, coil and cone forms. Cone incense, which we learned to make, are used when you want the scent to increase over time.
For this workshop, we were given an incense kit that includes incense powder, a cone-shaped mold, gloves, mortar and pestle, aroma oil — I chose to work with Yuzu scented oil — and a non-flammable mat. The kit is produced in collaboration with the Fukunaga family, a 120 year old business based in Awaji Island, a region said to be the original birthplace of incense in Japan.
For this workshop, we were given an incense kit that includes incense powder, a cone-shaped mold, gloves, mortar and pestle, aroma oil — I chose to work with Yuzu scented oil — and a non-flammable mat. The kit is produced in collaboration with the Fukunaga family, a 120 year old business based in Awaji Island, a region said to be the original birthplace of incense in Japan.
Around the corner from POJ Studio and Shop is their café, which serves lovely food and the best orange juice and ginger carrot soup!
Having sat for a good part of the day, Gypsy, I and others decided to walk back to Hotel Rings. Enrobe, we stopped off at O'Kaffe Roasting Park (51 Kameyacho, Shimogyo Ward) for cappuccinos, a really yummy hot chocolate and pastries. They have a lovely second floor outside deck that was perfect before navigating our way back to the hotel. |
A bit of a rest up and change of clothes, before we met our group in the hotel lobby to walk to the Gion section of Kyoto for tonight's dinner at Gion Tempura Kokomo. The Gion district is on the east side of the Kamo river, its charming and historic atmosphere has strong ties to the world of traditional Japanese arts geisha, and the many old machiya (wooden townhouses). Walking to the restaurant with the bright lights of the city street along the main thoroughfare is a stark contrastswith the dark streets of Gion.
Tempura is just what I had been craving since our second night in Kyoto, and Gion Tempura Kokomo did not disappoint. Quite the contrary. It is a charming restaurant and the food and presentation is outstanding! Sitting at the bar, we had front row seats as the chef and his assistants created course after course of appetizers (, tempura, soup, more tempura, their speciality eel rice (outstanding), and a ripe persimmon for dessert. I was so caught up in the fabulous cuisine, I neglected to take photos of each dish ... trust me they were all fantastic! |
After two glasses of wine and some saké, our walk back to the hotel was a blur ...