Incense in Japan is unique, due to it's place within the country's culture.  Primarily, it is known for its religious and meditative purposes, but in Japan, incense is an everyday enjoyment, with its own distinctive lore.  Important eras in Japanese history are not known by their religious associations as much as they are remembered by their ( Read more... )

While my previous entries have stressed the Buddhist influence and religious usage of incense in Japan, this is misleading.  These factors have greatly led to the spread of incense, but the reason it is so predominant in Japan is because of Japanese culture, and Japanese culture being what it is, incense truly became what it is today due to our ( Read more... )

So yesterday we learned how incense is used in Buddhism. But not everyone in Japan is Buddhist. The vast majority of Japanese people would say that they aren't religious at all. So how do they use incense ( Read more... )

At last we arrive at the origin of incense's presence in Japan: Buddhism.  I mentioned before that much of incense's introduction within Japanese culture owed to it being sent over by Buddhist monks, and likewise, it is used in many aspects of Buddhism.  Japan does have a unique relationship with it, however, which I will briefly go into today.  ( Read more... )

There are many different varieties of incense used in Japan, which you may not be familiar with.  Once again, this area of interest was completely ignored by Lafcadio Hearn, and probably for very good reasons, but I still think the diversity in types of incense sold in Japan is pretty unique, especially because I've never seen many of them outside ( Read more... )

For today's entry, beginning a series on how incense (香, kō) is used in Japan, I think I should first give a bit of information on the history of incense.  A brief history, you will be pleased to know ( Read more... )

Happy New Year!!

...I'm a little late, aren't I?  In all honesty, I began these entries last December and was just that lazy getting around to this.  At first I thought I might be done in time for Koshōgatsu, then a desperate attempt to finish in time for Chinese New Year, but now it seems the only New Year I'm even with is some sort of ancient ( Read more... )

Fulfilling my first-ever request!  See, I do get around to them.  So I was asked to do my best to explain this:


( Read more... )

And now we have come to the end of our week of element-based yōkai.  Today's yōkai features that most crucial element of all, the human element (a neo-Japanesque thought if ever I had one).

I've stated before that yōkai are unlike anything else in any other country's lore, and even within Japan.  They are not revered like kami, they are not feared ( Read more... )

So now it's Day 6 of Yōkai Week, and I've run out of the Five Elements of Chinese Philosophy.

"Well, that's obvious," you may be saying, "we were wondering why in the world you made such a big deal about the five elements when you knew you had a week's worth of entries to do. That was a pretty bone-headed decision."

Hey now, no need to be hurtful. I ( Read more... )