Shoyeido Japanese Incense at Magical Omaha in Omaha Nebraska

Shoyeido is known and respected for its integrity. We are one of the few traditional incense manufacturers in Japan, who continue to purchase ingredients ourselves, produce incense by hand, and distribute it with sincere care to our customers for enhanced enjoyment.

The purity of our ingredients and the spirit we endorse in producing our incense are equally important. The work begins with the inspection of the ingredients. Because we work with elements from nature, understanding the quality and the characteristics of the ingredients is essential. Even the same grade of a bushel of an herb will emit a delicately different fragrance from another. From lot to lot, our master blenders work very hard to make subtle adjustments to retain the consistent fragrance of a particular incense. They consider the process to be an artistic endeavor rather than mere "production". Human sensitivity is highly-valued for Shoyeido's incense making.

The density of a single stick of incense matters significantly. Fineness or coarseness of ground ingredients affect its burning temperature. Natural incense needs to breathe. If it is too dense, it burns at a lower temperature which changes the scent. On the other hand, if it is too loose, it burns at a higher temperature and the fragrance may be diminished.

Shoyeido's incense comes from a truly genuine heritage of 300 years. Without a supporting core stick, our incense delivers the pure essence of the ingredients. Our incense maintains a fine balance between density and rigidness for handling.

Like tea ceremony and flower arrangement, Koh-do, or incense ceremony is an important tradition in Japan. Incense ceremony is traditionally carried out in the Koh room, with a Master of Ceremonies, and a small group of participants. Most incense ceremonies involve a game, in which the participants attempt to guess which scent is being burned.There are hundreds of variations of these incense games.

Overall, incense ceremony is about having fun with fragrance, and learning to 'listen' to incense. You do not have to be an experienced 'nose' to enjoy Koh-do. The important thing is to appreciate the incense.

The artful blending of carefully selected natural ingredients makes Shoyeido's incense unique and exclusive. The finest quality ingredients are procured by our master blenders and skillfully crafted to perfection.

The blending process requires an enormous amount of skill. When blending with natural ingredients, the quality, balance and ratios of each element are critical. The slightest variation in amount or quality of any component can dramatically change the resulting fragrance. The amount of moisture, along with drying-time and production methods, can also strongly influence the scent. Shoyeido has been refining these techniques for 300 years – ensuring nothing goes to waste in this detailed production process.

The ingredients are finely ground and carefully mixed with a powdered natural binding material, "Tabu-ko". Twenty to fifty kinds of herbs and spices are precisely blended with pure water, quickly shaped, and dried very slowly.

As it is made with such care and contains the finest natural ingredients, Shoyeido's incense matures and improves with time, like fine wine. The scent becomes deeper and more mellow, reflecting the subtlety and refinement for which Shoyeido is known.

People at Shoyeido are meticulously involved with every detail of the process of incense making; from the ingredients to the manufacturing, and to the refined and artistic packaging. Only in this way, Shoyeido knows, the purity of incense can be enjoyed.