Joss the Facts, Ma'am...

Anyone who knows me well should know that I have always had a certain fondness for things that make my environment smell good. In my college days I started developing an interest in things like incense and scented candles. After coming to Japan and getting a real life (so to speak) I wasted no time in amassing a sizable collection, first of scented candles, then of essential oils, and then, to a lesser extent, of cone incense.

What's ironic is that I never really paid much attention to stick incense, or "joss sticks", even though they've been a part of Japanese tradition since they were brought over from China back in the 6th century. You see, lighting joss sticks and placing them in front of temples, household altars, or graves is as much a part of traditional Japanese life as chopsticks. In that respect, I probably did like most people and take them for granted, seeing them as just "something everyone does" rather than something to give any attention or interest. Now, however, with my MIL's recent death, we're practically awash in joss sticks, being that we are obligated to place them in front of her grave and the memorial altar in the house every day. Maybe I just got a bit fed up with the "same old, same old" joss sticks every time, so I started looking around a bit more to see what else there was. Actually, there's a lot. In fact, there's a seriously major lot. I can't talk about it all, obviously, so I'll just give a few, brief glimpses.

There are four main occasions during the year (New Year, Spring Equinox, Obon, Autumnal Equinox) when almost everyone goes to tend the family graves, which includes placing joss sticks in front of them. When those occasions roll around, all of the supermarkets, interior goods stores, convenience stores, etc. immediately stock up on these:



(I'm sorry...I didn't realize I'd photographed them upside-down until later...)

I believe the brand name is read "Sansuikō", and it means "scent of mountain water". (The smaller writing reads "for graveyard use".) It is probably the most popular line of incense in this part of Japan if not all of Japan simply because it is so cheap. A twin pack like this only costs a couple hundred yen. Like I said, when one of those grave-tending events roll around they are everywhere. Moreover, with the high joss stick consumption required by a death in the family, we have been rolling in the stuff because people keep giving it to us. It's not bad, but I will say that one definitely gets what one pays for, and joss sticks are no exception. My biggest complaint against this type has always been that it's so skinny and fragile. Lighting the joss sticks has long been my job at any grave-tending event (including the recent daily ritual), and when I try to light up one of these packs it's all I can do to keep from crunching half of them in the process. And if that weren't bad enough, trying to stick them into the soil-filled incense trays in front of the graves without them snapping is tricky business.

Well, I finally got a bit fed up with it, so I decided to try something else. I went for another popular supermarket brand in this area, but one that's a bit higher grade:



The brand name is "Seiun", which literally means "BLUE cloud" (probably another reason I bought it, though in Japanese culture it is a symbol of a bright future). Anyway, as I said, you can find boxes of Seiun in most supermarkets, but it's somewhat pricier than Sansuikō. In other words, it's what tends to be bought by people wanting to be a cut above the others. Ironically, it's a relatively low-grade product put out by one of Japan's most famous incense companies, Nippon Kodo. Compared with Sansuikō, the sticks are thicker and firmer to boot. That means far less breakage and much better penetrability. As far as the scent is concerned, however, I'd say I haven't really noticed that much difference...though the Seiun definitely leaves me less smelly afterward.



(Here's a detail showing Seiun joss sticks partly removed from the package.)

There's another brand of joss sticks in the supermarkets that's similar in price to Seiun but comes in a variety of floral and wood scents and has...well...kind of gaudy, cheap-looking labels. I'm not sure what the brand name is, or who makes it, but I bought a box of lavender-scented ones out of curiosity. (I didn't get a pic though...sorry.) They're not bad, but I found the scent a bit on the soapy side.

Anyway, these supermarket varieties really only scratch the surface as far as stick incense is concerned. As an important tradition with a long history, joss sticks are taken very seriously by some people. Many of the more historically significant temples have their own types. Go to any souvenir shop in Kyoto, Nara, or any other major center of culture and history, and you're bound to find plenty of joss sticks in classic scents, many of them hand-made by craftsmen. There are also shops like the one I stumbled on last weekend when I took my kids on a spontaneous outing to the Tsukuba Expo Center (our only trip this summer. Sorry, no pics). We popped over to a nearby shopping complex (because my son wanted to play arcade games...*sigh*), and I found a joss stick specialty store.

Wow. I never expected to see so many varieties...or such a wide price range. I wasn't about to leave without getting something, but I couldn't decide, so I wound up grabbing an intriguing-looking sampler.



Here are a couple of higher-grade sampler packs I have in my possession. The one up above is one I bought at a souvenir shop in Kyoto last time I was there (two years ago) and have only recently opened. It contains five different varieties which are all said to be location-specific, classic scents. I know I really like the ones I've tried; they certainly conjure up memories of strolling through the "Open Halls" of ancient temples and castles. The rather greenish one at the bottom is the one I just bought in Tsukuba. It's a collection of forest scents including spruce, hinoki, and fir. I have yet to light one, but they sure smell nice as is! I can't help but notice, however; the higher-grade joss sticks tend to be thinner than even Sansuikō and are considerably shorter. I realize that no one would stick a bunch of these in the dirt in front of a grave unless he were really rich and/or frightfully stupid, but still...it's kind of like paying ten bucks for a tiny, Italian-style espresso (what's called a "short black" in Australia) when you can get a relatively decent, grande-size mocha latte for less than half that.

But you still probably get what you pay for.