The Incense Book by Kiyoko Morita. Chapter 6

6. The decline and rebirth of the Ko-do.

     The art of co-do began to lose popularity after the mid-nineteenth century. The collapse of the dominance of the Tokugawa shogunate, the rise of feudal society, the opening of the country to the West and the subsequent Westernization - all this contributed to the decline of traditional arts. Co-do, in particular, in the process of gaining recognition among the masses of the population, has become too commercial, with its games for guessing aromas, highlighting technical skills or ritual elements more than the development of aesthetic perception. In addition, the lack of high-quality ingredients necessary for the production of incense probably contributed to its completion - a fate that did not suffer the tea ceremony and the art of flower arrangement.

     After the Meiji Revolution, most incense masters could no longer make a living by teaching ko-do and turned to other ways of self-sufficiency. Incense ceremonies remained unpopular until about 1920, when several descendants of the co-do masters began to arrange incense evening parties, trying to revive the long-forgotten traditions of art. Some of them held ceremonies in temples where incense was offered, while others held ceremonies in the imperial house.

     Then, in the early 1960s, co-masters at the Sino and Oi schools began offering classes in which people could learn the art of aroma again. Their students wrote handbooks that interpreted incense games in a simpler, less intimidating style, so that young people could also participate in them and enjoy them. In the incense shops in Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo, new types of incense and modernized utensils were introduced, and they also created a place for co-do masters to conduct classes. These stores still sponsor many incense and co-do exhibits. For example, the Shoyeido incense store in Kyoto, since the early 1970s, has been holding annual ceremonies representing both Sino and Oi schools in large Buddhist temples.

    In recent years, large associations of incense groups have emerged, each of which publishes its own journal. In the fall of 1982, co-do masters and students first came to the United States to introduce the incense ceremony to Americans. These demonstrations took place in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Since then, numerous ceremonies have been held in places such as Seattle, Boston, Boulder, Denver, Paris and Frankfurt, and there is even a small incense research group in Boston. People in other areas also show interest in holding such incense-setting events, which promises a positive development of co-do art in the future.

     So we see the revival of the ko-do in Japan, its small, test steps abroad and the general interest in healing methods of relaxation and rest, and it seems that time is suitable for the dissemination of knowledge and the creation of a new life for this little-known art form - by understanding high-quality incense .