The art of KoDo

Along with perfumes, incense today captures the hearts of people and plays an increasingly important role in relaxing, treating, filling our time and space with special properties, providing a feeling of satisfaction with life.

Nowadays, incense is considered sacred and is sometimes used as an offering to God, and in other cases it can be used as a tool to bring peace to your life.

However, incense was part of everyday life long before our current society with its high level of stress. From time immemorial, they helped people calm down, pack up and look into themselves.

As humanity has a history and culture, so aroma naturally has its own history and culture. How and when did the incense culture we are now familiar with grow up?

As humanity has its own history and culture, so does the fragrance. © Nippon Kodo

Let's try to look into its depths. It will be about "Koch" - a systematic Japanese art of aroma, which has no analogues in the whole world.

The word “perfume” comes from the old French “perfumar” (where “per” means through, and “fumar” means smoking), which suggests that the art of perfumery probably began with incense burning.

The history of Koch art supposedly starts from the time when the Buddhist monk Ganjin came to Japan from China in 754 AD, during the Chinese Tang Dynasty. This venerable monk, well known for his introduction of the Buddhist commandments in Japan, played a significant role in the history of incense. Ganjin introduced the thriving incense culture of the Chinese Tang Dynasty in Japan, thanks to medical incense as well as mixed aromatic balls (Neriko).

Neriko were made from incense powder for medical use mixed with binders such as nectar and molasses. In Japan, before that there was no aromatic incense in this form, people usually only lit medical incense to create aromas.

Since Neriko was a mixture of ingredients, different mixtures created different flavors. As a result, people began to create their favorite fragrances from original ingredients. Incense was no longer used only as a religious offering. They have become a pleasure of taste, designed to enjoy the delicate aromas. It was this that gave rise to the aesthetic, graceful art of incense takono in Japan.

“Listening to the fragrance” of incense in peace of mind © Nippon Kodo

During the Heian period (VIII-XII centuries), courtiers invented original takonos in search of elegant, refined aromas for personal use. Different mixtures were used depending on the occasion, mood, time or season. “Takononawasho” - a game of incense, whose participants competed in creating the best scents, also began in this period.

Not satisfied with the simple aromas of flowers and fruits in nature, the courtiers created new aromas, thereby giving the basis for a special incense culture, which was firmly attached to the awareness of the seasons. That is how Koch was formed.

In the art of the Kokh fragrance, which was finally formed during the Muromachi era in Japan (1338-1573), the differences in aromas are described as “listening to the aroma”, listening to the whispers of incense in peace of mind.

The commitment to making beautiful incense is a long and respected tradition that can be traced back to Juemon Takai, better known as Koju, a skilled art expert and the main supplier of precious, rare and sophisticated fragrances to the Emperor of Japan and his court.

The noble art of fragrance as part of a sophisticated lifestyle © Nippon Kodo

One of the heirs to the incense culture is Nippon Kodo, which continues to develop the world of fragrances, adding the latest technology to traditional skills. Many of the beautiful fragrances produced to this day are based on original recipes created by Koju.

So “Koch” and now represents the noble art of fragrance, as part of a sophisticated lifestyle and culture, deeply connected with the Japanese way of feeling, as well as with Japanese literature and poetry. Nippon Kodo continues to produce incense, mainly by hand, as has been done for hundreds of years.

High-quality natural raw materials are used as ingredients in the manufacture of incense. During the production process, natural resins of valuable wood species and flower ingredients are loaded into vats, in which they are mixed with other organic raw materials.

After that, the mass is loaded into machines that squeeze long incense strings, or turn them into cones and spirals. Then the sticks, cones and spirals are evenly cut and carefully laid in wooden forms, where they are left to dry. The molds are placed in a room where humidity and temperature are controlled so as to provide only the required amount of air and light. So incense is left for several days until they harden. Then they are collected and packaged.

Nippon Kodo products have unique flavors. These fragrances are created by combining carefully stored recipes with the sensitivity of modern Japanese perfumers with the best noses and instincts that interpret and develop the tradition to create exquisite fragrances.

It takes a lot of time to become a skilled incense master. Such a person should feel even very slight differences in weather, air, and also in natural aromatic materials. And besides, have sensitive hands that can make tiny adjustments to the amount of moisture used in kneading. It is said that a true incense master should have keen feelings and gentle hands.

As the heirs to the incense traditions cultivated since the 16th century, the Japanese have maintained a flavor culture. Attention is focused not only on special areas, such as Buddhist ritual services and the incense ceremony. It also extends to the areas of relaxation and health, in which the functional aspects of aromas are applied. The main goal of the noble art of incense in our time is to give people genuine peace of mind through aroma.

MARIA NESTERENKO

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 /