Incense お香

What is a stick of Japanese incense actually made of?

The base of a stick is not scent at all. Nippon Kodo's own page on raw materials names powdered bark from Machilus thunbergii, called tabu-no-ki in Japan, as the base ingredient of incense. Wikipedia's entry on incense and Nippon Kodo's own materials page agree on what carries the scent itself: agarwood, called jinko, and sandalwood, called byakudan, are the two ingredients that matter most in Japanese incense. Nippon Kodo describes kyara as the most refined form of aloeswood, with a pure aroma that varies by tree. Around those two woods sits a long supporting cast: resins such as benzoin and borneol, spices such as cinnamon, clove and star anise, and florals such as rose, jasmine, lavender and ylang ylang.

Wikipedia describes coreless incense, sometimes called dhoop, as the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan, unlike the bamboo cored sticks common elsewhere, where a bamboo splint is coated in scented paste that burns down with it. The cited Scentscape and Ka-fuh listings explicitly say their sticks have no bamboo core; the other cited ranges do not state a core material. Ka-fuh's listing says its no-core sticks burn with less smoke.

What's the difference between the ranges we stock?

Kayuragi is the single scent range and the largest one on our shelf: aloeswood, sandalwood and a run of florals and fruit scents, each sold as its own box. Our Kayuragi Aloeswood listing sets the pattern the whole range follows, a box of 40 sticks with a small ceramic stand included, each stick about 14 centimetres long and burning for around 25 minutes. A handful of Kayuragi scents are out of stock right now (green tea, mikan orange, Japanese cypress and sandalwood); the rest of the range is available.

Scentscape pairs scents rather than using a single note. The available Yuzu and Bergamot box contains 30 bamboo-free sticks, each about 14 centimetres long with a stated burn time of about 25 minutes, sold without a holder.

Oedo-koh is a handmade set styled after old Edo, sold as a tin holder plus sticks packed together in a paulownia wood box. Our Sakura set holds 60 sticks, each a short 6 centimetres, burning fast at around 12 minutes. One Oedo-koh scent, Chrysanthemum, is out of stock right now; the rest (Aloeswood, Peony Tree, Pine Tree, Sakura and Water Drop) are available.

Kohden is a pair of gift boxes rather than a single scent. The Flower Scent box holds six florals (Pale Cherry Blossom, Fresh Herb, Elegant Rose, Wild Cherry Blossom, White Plum and Charming Violet), 35 sticks to a pack, 14 centimetres long, burning for 20 to 25 minutes, with no holder included. The Tree Scent box pairs five woody incenses (Sandalwood, Aloeswood, Agarwood, Yamaboushi and Tree Cherry Blossom) with a set of candles, the sticks burning about 25 minutes and the candles about 10.

Ka-fuh is a single floral gift box, one pack each of four no-core scents (Lotus, Carnation, White Plum and Lavender), about 14 centimetres long and burning about 25 minutes, again with no holder.

The low smoke gift set pairs two other Nippon Kodo lines rather than making its own: three Koumusubi sticks (Wisteria Flower, Osmanthus and an unscented Binchotan stick with no fragrance or colouring added) and three Yume-no-yume sticks (Cherry Blossom, Lotus Flower and Lavender), six pieces in total. The sticks run about 14 centimetres; Koumusubi burns for around 25 minutes and Yume-no-yume for around 30.

Yume-no-Yume also sells as its own seasonal series under names like Goldfish, Whooping Crane, Maple Leaf and Bamboo Leaf, a different format from the sticks bundled into the low smoke set above: a box of 12 short sticks, about 8 centimetres, with a small metal holder, burning for around 20 minutes. Two of these, Goldfish and Whooping Crane, are out of stock right now.

Cho-Cho-San is our only cone incense, 36 cones split evenly across four scents (sandalwood, cherry, kyara and pine) with a mini ceramic holder, each cone burning for about 10 minutes. It is out of stock right now, so if cones rather than sticks are what you actually want, there is nothing available from us today.

Everyday Sandalwood, Mainichi Byakudan on the box, is Nippon Kodo's plain daily blend of Indian sandalwood and herbal spice, sold as a 150 stick box with sticks 13.5 centimetres long, burning about 20 minutes, no holder included. The same blend also comes in a small 24 stick box with a stand included, sized for trying it rather than committing to the full box.

How long does each stick or cone burn?

Burn time varies by product more than by length alone. Oedo-koh's short 6 centimetre sticks are the quickest, gone in around 12 minutes. The Yume-no-Yume seasonal series, including Goldfish, runs 8 centimetres and burns for around 20 minutes, the same stated time as Everyday Sandalwood's longer 13.5 centimetre stick, so length alone does not decide it. Kayuragi, Scentscape, Kohden's Flower Scent box and Ka-fuh all use a 14 centimetre stick and burn for 20 to 25 minutes. Cones burn fastest of all: Cho-Cho-San's cones run about 10 minutes each, though that range is out of stock right now.

How do you pick a scent?

Start with how you want the incense to behave rather than how the name reads. If you want one scent that carries through a whole session, a quiet read or a bath, Kayuragi's single notes (aloeswood, sandalwood or one of the florals) do that plainly and it is the range with the most choice. If you want a scent built as a blend rather than a single note, coffee with chocolate, matcha with latte, yuzu with bergamot, that is Scentscape's territory. If a scent is going to a gift table rather than your own shelf, Kohden, Oedo-koh and Ka-fuh all come in a presentation box built for it, Oedo-koh's paulownia wood box in particular reads as a gift on its own. If you cannot pick just one, the low smoke gift set carries six different scents from two different lines in one box, which is a genuine way to sample rather than commit.

What should you start with if you have never burned incense before?

Two options fit a first try better than the rest. Nippon Kodo's Mini Sandalwood box is the lower commitment of the two: 24 short sticks of the same Indian sandalwood and herbal spice blend as the full size Everyday Sandalwood box, and it comes with its own stand, so there is nothing else to buy before you can light the first one. If you would rather try several scents at once than settle on sandalwood, the low smoke gift set holds six sticks across two different lines, Wisteria Flower, Osmanthus and unscented Binchotan from Koumusubi, plus Cherry Blossom, Lotus Flower and Lavender from Yume-no-yume, enough to work out what you actually like before buying a full box of anything. For how to actually light and place whichever one you pick, see our incense safety guide.

How does this connect to holders, safety and the maker?

The sticks and cones themselves are only half of what you need. Our incense holder guide covers holders made for sticks and cones, our incense safety guide covers lighting, placing and storing incense safely, and our Nippon Kodo maker page covers the company itself, who they are and what a few of the scents actually smell like.

Quick answers

These are the questions people ask us most often about choosing Japanese incense, answered briefly.

What's actually in a stick of Japanese incense? Powdered tabu-no-ki bark is the base ingredient, and the scent comes mostly from aromatic woods, agarwood and sandalwood, backed by resins, spices and florals.

Do any of your incense sticks have a bamboo core? Only two say: Scentscape and Ka-fuh both say on the listing that their sticks have no bamboo core. Coreless incense like this is the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan generally, but the other ranges we stock do not state a core material.

How long does a stick or cone actually burn? Burn time varies by product rather than by length alone. Oedo-koh's short 6 centimetre sticks burn for about 12 minutes, most of our 14 centimetre sticks run 20 to 25 minutes and Cho-Cho-San's cones burn in about 10.

What should I try first if I have never burned incense before? The Mini Sandalwood box is a simple starting point: it has 24 sticks and comes with a stand.

Do you have incense cones in stock? Not right now. Our only cone incense, Cho-Cho-San, is out of stock at the moment; everything else we stock is sticks.