闻, or 闻香 (mon-koh), can be literally translated as to smell or to listen to fragrances. This is probably why the Chinese word for the action of smelling, contains a character representing the ear. Most people would have expected a nose instead of the ear. Asano Michiaki of the Kaori-Bunka (an Incense culture research… [Read More…]
The Importance of Incense Stick Angle
I felt rather inspired and compelled to write this article after an enjoyable meetup with Mr Stephan S. from Mexico, whom had stopped by Singapore for a while. I’m extremely impressed the olfactory prowess of Stephan which I believe to be a notch above mine (I hope to invite him to write a guest article… [Read More…]
Incense Review – Battle of the Tangy notes!
Apologies for the slow update, this article was taking quite a while to write and required several revisitations to the respective incenses over a few days before I could finalize it. It is into its 7th revision now and I’m publishing it for the time being, subjected to further edits. I thought I would… [Read More…]
Kyara versus Shin-Kyara
The subject of Shin Kyara is rather new and foreign to people outside of Japan, but this definition/concept has been known domestically, in certain incense schools for a very long time! Some incense companies have been substituting Kyara with Shin-kyara in their Rikkoku sets as a cost cutting measure. Basically Shin Kyara is just… [Read More…]
Incenses from Kogado 香雅堂
This is by far the ultimate pure mysore sandalwood stick I’ve ever came across in Japanese Incenses! Having had several hours of heavy rain where I am, perhaps this picture outside my window is the most apt in describing the exact olfactory experience during the burn process of this incense, tranquil, cool, sweet, misty with bright sparkles. At the back of my head, the Phantom of the Opera’s Music of the Night plays at half its usual speed.
Incense Review – Hana-no-sho from Gyokushodo
Incense : Hana-No-Sho Brand : Gyokushodo Source : Purchased from Japan Price : 2100 yen / 35 grams (USD $21?) Amount Burnt so far prior to this review : 1 box Taste profile : Sweet : +++++ Scent characteristics : Texture – Soft creamy Binder notes – almost none detectable … [Read More…]
Scent classification by the Chinese
I’ve had a copy of this diagram for quite a while, a common diagram used by the chinese when it comes to perfumery and other scent related applications. Decided to spend the past week translating it so that more people can get access to the information.. so here it is!.. Basically, they had… [Read More…]
Incense Review – Jinkoh Juzan from Nippon Kodo
I can no longer hide my love for Japanese Incenses! There’s just so much I would like to talk aboout Japanese incense sticks that I’ve been enjoying and I just feel this need to express myself! As such, I’ll be regularly writing reviews on different Japanese incenses as I go along my daily burn. These… [Read More…]
Turning the Subitism Burner into the ultimate incense heater
In the soft copy manual of the Subitism burner, there are several upgrades that was suggested, one of which was a variable power supply. The reason why each Subitism burner was not sold with a variable power supply is because of the expensive shipping costs, and the bulkiness of such a power supply (a few… [Read More…]
Impressions of the Ranjatai
Several incense houses in Japan have been known to create blended incense sticks based on their impression of the Ranjatai through Mon-koh. Small fragments of the Ranjatai are known to be in possession of descendants of kodo masters and big incense companies, from which they draw inspiration into crafting a representative incense based on the… [Read More…]
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