As a way of learning more about Japanese culture,
I decided to "enjoy the scent of Japan, "so to speak, and try my hand at making incense.
I had my tea ceremony teacher show me how to make incense as part of my tea ceremony lessons.
Incense is burned during tea ceremonies in the winter, permeating the room with a subtle scent.
On this page, I'll tell you about my recent experience making incense.
To the right, you can see the raw material used for making western incense, such as peat, lemongrass, and essential oils.
First, I thoroughly ground the raw material in a mortar.
This is what it looked like when ground.
Then I formed it into the shape of a triangular pyramid.
Here's a picture of the final product.
Next, I placed the incense on the coals to the left.
The incense was then ready to be "heard." (Of course, I actually smelled the incense with my nose, and not with my ear, but traditionally, the Japanese use the word for "hear" instead of "smell" to describe how one enjoys incense).
The way you "listen to" (smell) incense is to hold the ceramic burner in your left hand,
cup your right hand around the top of the burner, and place your nose in the opening between your thumb and index finger.
Then you breathe in, turn your face to the left, and exhale.
Japanese incense has a very delicate scent, unlike the strong scent of western incense.
One theory attributes this difference to how Japanese and westerners have different body odors, due to the difference between the fish-and-vegetable based Japanese diet and meat-based western diet.
With the recent popularity of aroma therapy and whatnot, it's easy enough to find incense to burn, but traditional Japanese incense is a far more rare experience.
It may sound like I'm exaggerating, but it was the first time I'd smelled such a subtle,
soft fragrance.
Making the incense itself is fun, too. I really encourage you to give incense a "listen."
While you're in Japan, why not participate in an incense workshop, and relax with a cup of tea after savoring the unique fragrances?
Contact us if you're interested!
Japan Reservation Network : mailto:info@japan-rn.com%3C/font
