hibi | Ten Minutes of Fragrance Born from Two Traditional Industries in Hyogo, Japan

I want to preserve the act of striking a match.

Masafumi Sagayama, President and Representative Director, Kobe Match Co., Ltd.

Take a single stick from a matchbox and strike it against the side to light it. Once the incense has caught and the flame has subsided, lay the stick on its dedicated mat inside the tray. The slender stick continues to burn as incense, releasing its fragrance for approximately ten minutes.

hibi (hibi 10MINUTES AROMA) is a Japanese incense brand born in Hyogo Prefecture that brings together matches and incense in a single product.

Behind its creation are two local industries: Kobe Match, a match manufacturer in the Harima region, and Daihatsu, an incense maker on Awaji Island.

As demand for matches declined with the spread of disposable lighters and other alternatives, Masafumi Sagayama, the third-generation head of Kobe Match, began looking beyond the preservation of traditional matches themselves. His idea was to put the technology of striking a match to new use in a product suited to contemporary life.

That idea took shape through an encounter with incense makers on Awaji Island. Yet developing a stick that would withstand being struck without breaking, then continue burning as incense, required more than three years of experimentation.

Inside hibi's small box lies the accumulated expertise of two manufacturing regions, along with the work of people determined to carry their skills into a new era.

Contents

Basic Information
The People Behind hibi and the Origins of the Brand
The Brand's Approach to Craftsmanship
References

Basic Information

Brand: hibi (hibi 10MINUTES AROMA)
Launch: April 2015
Development and production: Kobe Match Co., Ltd. (Harima, Hyogo Prefecture) and Daihatsu Co., Ltd. (Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture)
Key figures in development: Masafumi Sagayama (Kobe Match) and Chosaku Shimomura (Daihatsu)
Design: Yasuhiro Horiuchi (TRUNK DESIGN)
Official website: hibi

The People Behind hibi and the Origins of the Brand

From Kodak Japan to the Family Match Business

The history of Kobe Match dates back to 1929, when Sakuichi Sagayama established a match-manufacturing business in Hyogo Prefecture.

The Harima region had been a center of match production since the Meiji era (1868–1912). Its relatively dry climate and proximity to Kobe, an important export port, helped the industry develop and encouraged manufacturers to establish themselves in the area.

Sakuichi's grandson, Masafumi Sagayama, was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1968. After graduating from university, he joined Kodak Japan in 1991. He spent approximately eight years there before returning to the family business in 1999.

By then, however, Japan's match industry had already been shrinking for years. Matches, once widely used in household kitchens and restaurants and distributed as advertising materials, had gradually lost their everyday role to disposable lighters and other alternatives.

His father, the company's second-generation president, also took a severe view of the industry's future, recognizing that conventional matches alone would no longer be enough to sustain the business.

After joining the company, Sagayama explored ways to diversify its activities, including a bus-wrapping advertising business that made use of printing techniques developed through match production. In 2010, he became the company's third-generation president and representative director.

Even so, declining demand remained a serious challenge for a manufacturer with long-established equipment and production operations.

Moving Beyond Retro Matches to Products Built on Ignition Technology

While searching for new markets, Sagayama worked with designer Yasuhiro Horiuchi on Match Design Factory, a project that repurposed vintage matchbox labels.

Their colorful graphics were adapted for clothing and everyday accessories, inviting people to appreciate matches, once ordinary necessities, as objects of design.

The project demonstrated that changing the presentation of an old product could reveal a different kind of value. But attracting interest in nostalgic graphics was not the same as giving people a reason to use matches again in daily life.

Sagayama therefore reconsidered what was truly worth preserving. Rather than focusing on the match as a product, he turned his attention to the technology at its core: the ability to ignite something by striking it.

We shifted our perspective toward creating something new using match-making technology.

Masafumi Sagayama

Incense emerged as a promising possibility because it, too, was something people lit to use. Hyogo Prefecture was home not only to the match industry of Harima but also to Awaji Island, one of Japan's leading incense-producing regions.

The possibility of bringing two local industries with distinct histories together in a single product began to take shape.

A Collaboration with Daihatsu on Awaji Island Begins in 2011

In July 2011, Sagayama met Chosaku Shimomura, who headed Daihatsu, an incense manufacturer on Awaji Island.

The concept was a match whose stick was itself made of incense. By striking a single stick, people could enjoy its fragrance without needing a separate lighter or matches.

The difficulty was that matches and incense sticks required different physical properties. Ordinary incense sticks are relatively fragile and can break under the pressure of being struck against the side of a matchbox. Making the stick harder could prevent breakage, but it also made it more difficult for the flame to travel along the incense.

The two companies developed successive prototypes, adjusting the thickness and strength of the sticks as well as the way they burned after ignition.

Yasuhiro Horiuchi also joined the project to develop the packaging and overall brand design. His role was to help create a product that would be simple to use and appealing enough to keep within easy reach in everyday life.

In July 2014, an early prototype was exhibited at a trade show, followed by further refinements. The finished product was officially unveiled at the Tokyo Gift Show in February 2015, and hibi went on sale in April of that year.

Approximately three and a half years passed between the initial concept and commercialization. The development process involved more than combining match-making and incense-production techniques. It also required careful decisions about how the product would be used and presented.

From the 2015 Launch to International Expansion and Flagship Stores

Following its launch, hibi began reaching audiences overseas as a new kind of everyday product rooted in Japan's regional manufacturing traditions.

In January 2016, the brand made its international debut at Maison&Objet, the major international trade fair for interior design and lifestyle products held in Paris, France. In 2019, hibi received the Good Focus Award, a distinction within Japan's Good Design Awards.

In September 2023, the company opened two directly operated stores simultaneously: one in Kuramae, Tokyo, and another on the grounds of its headquarters in Taishi, Hyogo Prefecture.

The Kuramae store was conceived as a place where visitors could experience the fragrances, while the factory shop at the company's headquarters was designed to offer insights into its manufacturing history.

A company that had once built its business around producing and selling large quantities of matches had found a new role for its ignition technology. Through hibi, that technology became the foundation of a brand reaching customers both in Japan and abroad.

The Brand's Approach to Craftsmanship

Balancing Strength and Combustion with Paper Fibers and Charcoal

The incense stick used in hibi has properties that distinguish it from conventional incense. Daihatsu, based on Awaji Island, developed a stick that retains its flexibility while being strong enough to withstand the force of striking it against a matchbox.

If you make it harder, it won't burn.

Chosaku Shimomura

Simply making an incense stick harder compromises the properties it needs to burn properly. Daihatsu therefore developed a method of incorporating paper fibers and charcoal into the incense base. This combination gives the stick the strength and flexibility needed for striking while allowing it to burn to the end.

Kobe Match, meanwhile, was responsible for the technology that allows the stick to ignite reliably and transfer the flame to the incense. Its craftspeople adjusted the formulations of the wax absorbed into the stick and the chemical composition of the match head. Coloring the match heads to complement the impression of each fragrance also became part of the manufacturing process.

The box itself draws on the match manufacturer's expertise. Precise box-making techniques ensure that the inner tray and outer sleeve fit together properly, preventing the incense sticks inside from spilling out easily.

Designing a Box and Incense Mat for Everyday Life

hibi's packaging deliberately avoided simply reproducing the appearance of traditional matchbox labels.

Yasuhiro Horiuchi designed a small, understated box with minimal decoration. While retaining the basic structure of a matchbox, he moved away from the colorful graphics associated with vintage advertising matches, creating a design that would fit naturally into contemporary living spaces.

The brand name hibi comes from the Japanese word meaning "day by day" or "everyday life." Its logo combines two instances of the kanji character 日, meaning "day," reflecting the idea of making fragrance part of everyday living through the form of the lettering itself.

Once lit by striking it against the box, the incense is placed on a dedicated nonflammable mat. Some products include the mat, while others are sold without it. The dedicated mat must remain inside its tray during use.

The mat also makes it possible to enjoy incense within a small space. Unlike conventional incense, which typically requires a separate holder and a means of lighting it, hibi was designed to minimize the number of tools and steps needed to enjoy its fragrance.

hibi sense. | Blending Fragrances to Evoke the Sea, Rivers, and Forests

When hibi first launched, its fragrance range focused primarily on scents associated with individual plants, such as lemongrass and lavender.

Introduced in September 2026, hibi sense. expanded this approach through a collection of blended aromas.

The theme is "scenery." Rather than focusing on the scent of a single plant, the collection combines multiple fragrances to evoke natural landscapes and the emotions and memories associated with them.

The collection consists of three compositions: Sea – Morning, evoking the sea in the morning; River – Noon, portraying a river at midday; and Forest – Dusk, suggesting a forest at twilight.

With hibi sense., the brand broadened its creative approach from individual botanical fragrances to the interpretation of landscapes, while retaining the fundamental structure of its match-shaped incense.

Project SOW | Creating Fragrance Accessories with Craftspeople Across Japan

hibi's collaborations extend beyond Harima and Awaji Island.

Through Project SOW, an initiative to develop everyday objects with makers from different regions of Japan, the brand has brought together techniques from fields such as woodworking and ceramics.

One example is the Seto ware incense mat tray introduced in September 2024.

Developed in collaboration with Shungyo Pottery in Seto, Aichi Prefecture, the tray was designed to accommodate hibi's dedicated incense mat. It is made from reinforced porcelain produced by the pottery manufacturer and comes in two shapes: Rinka, resembling flower petals, and Maru, a round form with a raised rim. The colors are inspired by two distinctive Seto ceramic traditions, Kiseto yellow ware and Oribe green-glazed ware.

The tray is separate from the dedicated mat that supports the burning incense. Placed beneath the mat, it adds another dimension to the experience through its material and form.

Building a Brand That Lasts Beyond a Passing Trend

After its launch, hibi expanded through international trade fairs and retailers. Yet Sagayama's ambition has never been limited to short-term sales growth.

What matters is that it continues to sell over the long term.

Masafumi Sagayama

Even when developing products in collaboration with major companies, he has emphasized the importance of displaying the hibi brand name alongside those of its partners. The aim is not simply to supply a product, but to communicate who made it and the thinking behind its creation, allowing the brand to develop and endure over time.