And then there is Kodo (香道), the art of incense appreciation, or the “way of scent.” According to a legend, a log of incense wood drifted ashore on Awaji Island in the third year of Empress Suiko’s ...

The first time I encountered Nippon Kodo incense was at Roberta Oaks boutique in downtown Honolulu. The shopkeeper’s handwritten description claimed that it was “the world’s best incense ...

Continuing with the incense theme, Byredo is also launching its capsule collection of Nippon Kodo incense, which is sold exclusively at their Wooster Street boutique in Soho and at byredo.com.

Incense listening is an exercise that focuses on the sensory ambience incense’s delicate aromas create. Kodo is meditative like the tea ceremony, appreciative like ikebana, and artful like ...