NIPPON KODO: From the Incense-Making Techniques of Koju to Hana-no-Hana and Oedo-Koh

Our mission is to spread Japan’s fragrance culture throughout the world.
Masayoshi Konaka (President of Nippon Kodo Holdings, 2025)

A stick of incense is not finished simply by combining fragrance materials. The powders must be kneaded, formed into a slender shape, and dried so that the intended fragrance rises when the stick is lit. What NIPPON KODO has inherited is this art of incense-making. Burning incense is a way of enjoying fragrance through combustion.

Its history brings together the skills of Koju, which served the imperial court, and the endeavors of Yujiro Kito, who translated the scents of Western flowers into incense. Established as a modern company in 1942, it has carried these older techniques from incense sticks for prayer into fragrances for everyday life, and onward into fragrance cultures overseas.

Key Facts
The Founders and the Origins of the Brand
The Brand’s Approach
References

Key Facts

Brand and company name: NIPPON KODO
Company established: 1942 (originally Tokyo Kokando)
First president: Masanori Konaka
Inherited techniques: The incense-making techniques of Koju and the Takai Juemon family, dating from the 16th century, and of Yujiro Kito
Current president of Nippon Kodo: Masashige Konaka
President of Nippon Kodo Holdings: Masayoshi Konaka
Headquarters: Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Official website: Nippon Kodo

The Founders and the Origins of the Brand

Masanori Konaka Establishes Tokyo Kokando in 1942

Nippon Kodo’s beginnings as a company lie in the Tokyo branch office of Kokando, an incense-stick manufacturer in Osaka. It separated and became independent in 1942, with Masanori Konaka as its first president. The company was then called Tokyo Kokando. It adopted its present name, Nippon Kodo, in 1966.

In 1947, it acquired the Mainichikoh trademark rights and the business name from Kito Tenkundo in Sakai, which was facing a succession problem. Mainichikoh and the company’s own Seiun became flagship products, widely known through television commercials. Building the company involved both making products of its own and continuing to bring earlier makers’ fragrances to customers.

Techniques Inherited from Koju and Yujiro Kito

Tracing Nippon Kodo’s tradition further back leads to Koju in the Tensho era. Koju was an incense specialist serving the imperial court, and successive generations of the Takai Juemon family passed down its skills. Nippon Kodo inherited secret manuals, passes granting access to the imperial court, and other materials from the 17th generation of the Takai family.

The other strand is Yujiro Kito’s fragrance composition, which produced Mainichikoh and Hana-no-Hana. Introduced in 1911, Hana-no-Hana brought the sumptuous impression of perfumes imported from the West into Japanese incense-making. These two traditions of incense-making form Nippon Kodo’s foundation.

The tradition dating from the 16th century and the establishment of the company in 1942 are distinct histories. Preserving earlier makers’ fragrances also meant keeping their techniques available for use in the products to come.

Masayoshi Konaka Moves from Banking to the Laboratory

Efforts to bring fragrance overseas expanded with the establishment of a local company in New York in 1965 and a Los Angeles branch in 1971. Masayoshi Konaka, who would play a role in the changes that followed, joined Mitsubishi Bank after graduating from university. After working there for five and a half years, he joined Nippon Kodo in 1995.

Called back by his father, Masayoshi was first assigned to the laboratory. Through developing incense sticks and other products, he discovered the pleasure of having customers buy and evaluate things his own company had taken the initiative to make. After working in new-market development and sales, he became president of Nippon Kodo in 2000, at the age of 32.

In 1996, soon after he joined, the French home-fragrance company Esteban became part of the group. The American incense manufacturer Genieco followed in 1999. Masayoshi sees the increase in work making incense for overseas fashion and luxury brands as a turning point in its recognition as a form of fragrance.

Bringing Incense Culture into Everyday Life and Overseas

The holding company Nippon Kodo Holdings was established in 2011. Masayoshi became its president in 2015. The roles of Nippon Kodo, which makes and sells products, and the holding company, which oversees the group, were separated, gradually establishing a structure for working with overseas operations and brands.

Our business is not only about selling incense as a product.
Masayoshi Konaka (interviewed as president of Nippon Kodo in 2016)

In 2016, Masayoshi spoke of his wish to bring the tradition to new audiences, looking both to memorial practices and to contemporary life. That year, Koju’s Ninenzaka store opened in Kyoto, using Japanese and English logos to connect with visitors from overseas. Oedo-Koh also appeared as incense expressing the playfulness and wit of Edo.

In a 2025 interview, alongside expanding the business into fragrances enjoyed at home, he described activities offering kodo experiences in France. Kodo is a culture of “listening” to and appreciating incense according to established forms. The work of conveying the background of fragrance continues through both products and experiences. In 2026, Masashige Konaka became president of Nippon Kodo.

The Brand’s Approach

Combining Powders and Liquid Fragrance Materials to Shape the Scent of Burning Incense

The aromatic materials Nippon Kodo works with include fragrant woods and plants, their powders, fragrance materials extracted from flowers and other plants, and blends composed around a particular theme. Their characteristics vary by origin and manufacturer, so the company examines their composition, quality, and the reliability of their supply.

Masayoshi Konaka identifies the combination of powdered aromatic materials and liquid fragrance materials as a characteristic of Japanese incense. Combining the properties of different materials, including traditional agarwood and sandalwood (in Japanese), builds layers in the fragrance. This is blending that considers not just the names of the materials but how they will smell when burned.

Craftspeople Judge the Amount of Water and the Drying Process

The dough made by mixing and kneading the ingredients is shaped, for example by extruding it through fine holes, cut to length, and arranged in wooden forms. It is then dried until firm, gathered, and packaged. The process connects machine forming with meticulous arrangement and drying.

Too much water during kneading can cause warping or reduce quality. Craftspeople judge how much water to add relative to the ingredients. During drying, temperature and humidity controls incorporate automation, while people adjust the combination of the two. Seasonal differences in humidity also affect quality.

In 2025, Masayoshi explained that automation improves productivity in mass production, while more of the craftsperson’s judgment is retained for high-end products. Thinking about the powder blend, shape, and drying together is what supports the fragrance of a single stick.

Hana-no-Hana: Translating Western Floral Fragrance into Incense

Yujiro Kito’s aim in creating Hana-no-Hana was a sumptuous incense reminiscent of Western perfume. Simply kneading perfume into a solid and setting it alight does not produce the same scent. Japanese incense-making techniques were needed to evoke flowers while the incense burned.

Introduced in 1911, “Kosuiko Hana-no-Hana” is incense enjoyed by burning it. The name “kosuiko,” or perfumed incense, embodies the idea of translating the floral character of liquid perfume into burning incense. This technique for connecting different fragrance cultures became a foundation for later floral incense.

Extending the Stories of Oedo-Koh into Colors and Objects

Oedo-Koh is a series composed by incense makers in Tokyo around the everyday life and culture of Edo. The incense is colored in traditional Japanese hues, extending its stories beyond fragrance into the texture of the objects held in the hand.

“Tamamatsu Kaido,” for example, takes the pines watching over roads traveled by wayfarers as its subject, expressing their powerful, refreshing scent. “Yuya no Shizuku” draws on scenes of people socializing at a public bath to evoke the warm, radiant feeling after bathing. Although both concern Edo, they select different moments from its landscapes and daily life.

The paulownia boxes use traditional patterns and colors, with ukiyo-e prints inside as well. For Tamamatsu Kaido, a wrapper patterned with overlapping pine needles and green incense convey the theme. The included tin incense holder is shaped to resemble Edo’s stone paving. Even opening the box, seeing its colors, and placing the incense in the holder are conceived as connections to scenes of Edo.

Translating a story into a fragrance, and finishing it as a stick that burns: in the techniques connecting the two, Nippon Kodo’s inheritance and creativity become visible.