Koju products|Incense store, Koju

Creating something new by drawing on tradition. Preserving the beauty of tradition through new creations. Koju delivers incense products that combine traditional skills, a long history, and modern day sensitivities.

Type of incense products

Incenses/Incense sticks
Koju makes incenses and incense sticks with our traditional skills and premium incense materials to bring the true value of incense culture to you.
Nerikoh/blended incense balls
Numerous Koju Nerikoh have been passed down through “The family incense blending book” written by the Edo period master, Koju Takai Juuemon. These are used as traditional incenses for tea ceremonies and at home.
Shoukoh and Zukoh
Shoukoh are incenses introduced along with Buddhism that combine precious aromatic woods with Chinese medicinal or herbal ingredients. When these ingredients are made into fine powder and rubbed into hands or neck, they are called Zukoh or anointing incense. Besides Buddhist services, they can be used for purifying the mind and body or simply as fragrance.
Ekoh/Cloth fragrance
Aromatic woods and Chinese herbal ingredients are said to repel insects that get on clothes with their medicinal effects. During the Heian dynasty, people were already using it to perfume clothes, and also as fragrant mothballs. Koju delivers cloth fragrance under the name “Kunoekoh”.
Meishikoh/Nioi Bukuro
Dynastic aristocrats used unique individual fragrances. Each person’s fragrance represented his or her individuality, functioning like a business card. You can leave an impression on others with your favorite fragrance if you keep a Koju “Meishikoh” in your business card holder. “Nioi Bukuro (Fragrance pouch)” is a Japanese sachet that leaves your whole body smelling great.
Shitsuraikoh/Indoor incense
Give subtle, pleasing fragrance to your space by leaving the top of the container open and keeping this product in the room. Just scrape the surface to refresh the scent when it starts to fade.

About Aromatic woods

“Jinkoh” and “Sandalwood” represent living trees that, over a period of many years, naturally develop fragrant substances inside their wood. Aromatic woods are the most precious ingredients for incense products, such as perfumes or incense sticks. They are also used for the art of Kodo. Koju has an assortment of quality aromatic woods that are hard to come by in a modern days.

Aloeswood

Clumps of fragrance are formed by resin inside living trees of the Aquilaria family. These trees only inhabit specific areas in South East Asia such as Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. The fragrance forms when fungi enter the trees. Some fragrance deposits are found in the ground like fossils, or inside old living trees. Because they often sink in a water, they were named “Jinkoh” which use characters that mean “fragrance that sinks” (there is no specific tree that is named Jinkoh).

Premium Aloeswood(Kyara)

The highest quality Jinkoh is called “Kyara” or Premium Aloeswood. It can be found only in specific locations in the mountainous areas of Vietnam. It has deep fragrance not found in other types of Jinkoh. From antiquity, it has been considered even more valuable than gold. In the present day, it is extremely rare and expensive, to the point that it is considered the jewelry of the fragrance world.

Sandalwood

An aromatic wood that grows in India and Indonesia. Fragrance is found inside the center layer of old trees and it has been valued highly since ancient times. It has been used for making Buddha statues, rosaries, and folding fans. It is also prized as a valuable ingredient for incenses or incense sticks. This aromatic wood is used in Kodo and tea ceremony as well.

About “Wa-koboku”

Precious aromatic woods such as Jinkoh (Kyara) or Sandalwood don’t grow in Japan. However, Japanese people have sought for aromatic woods that grow domestically throughout history. Japanese aromatic woods are different from original aromatic woods, but they carry the distinct, pleasing scent of Japan itself.

Hiba

Fruity and citrusy, with the freshness of the sea.
The fragrance is vivid, yet calm.

Japanese cedar(Sugi)

A mysterious, modern fragrance with a calm freshness that
passes through you ever so gently.

Japanese cypress(Hinoki)

First, a fresh fragrance unique to condensed Japanese cypress,
followed by a warm, woody fragrance.

Camphor tree(Kusunoki)

A healthy and crisp fragrance. Reserved and exquisite,
it has been beloved by Japanese people for ages.

About raw materials of incense

Clove
Coming from a dried Myrtaceae family tree’s flower bud. Notable for its pungency, it also brings a variety of scents. It has been used as a pain relief medicine for many years, as well as a flavoring for meat dishes or western confectionaries.
Cinnamon
Made from the dried bark of Lauraceae family trees. It has a characteristic sweet and pungent flavor. Often used as a stomach or pain relief medicine, as well as a fever reducer. It is also used as a flavoring for western confectionaries or coffee.
Babylonia
Since the old days, conch shell lid has been used not for fragrance, but as an ingredient for aroma retention.
Patchouli
The dried perennial plants of Labiatae family trees carry a warm, woody fragrance.
Since the old days, it has been used as not only as perfume, an insect repellant as well.
Star anise
The dried ripe fruit of Magnoliaceae family trees has a fresh fragrance that’s both sweet and bitter. It is used as a stomach or cough medicine and also as a flavoring for Chinese cuisines.
Borneol
The thin, crystalline sap of Dipterocarpaceae family trees has as a crisp fragrance. It is considered to have tranquilizing and antiseptic effects and has been in use since ancient times.
Cyperi Rhizoma
The dried root of Cyperaceous family trees has a warm, pepper-like spicy fragrance.
It is also known as “Jakutokoh”.
It is used as a stomach or pain relief medicine.
Frankincense
The solidified sap of Burseraceae family trees has a fresh, sweet fragrance.
It is used for religious ceremonies and the fragrance is said to have a tranquilizing effect.
Benzoin
The solidified sap of Styracaceae family trees has a thick, sweet fragrance.
It is used for religious ceremonies and at times as a cough or pain relief medicine.