Kodo literally means "the way of incense". Together with Chado (tea ceremony) and ikebana (flower arranging), this is one of the three major classical arts that an educated woman had to be accomplished in. Kodo is perhaps the least known of the three, but today its modern cousin, aromatherapy, is very popular. When practicing kodo one places a mica plate on top of the glowing coals covered with the incense or fragrant wood. The wood is not burned, but gives its scent in a very subtle way.
Kodo seems mainly to be about the sensation of smell, but the kodo secret lies in "listening". Participants of kodo do not 'smell' (the Japanese verb "kagu") but listen ( "kiku") to the smell of the wood, so they don't really use their nose but rather open their hearts and souls. Modern western psychologists and therapists know all about the power of smells, how a smell can instantly bring back a person to an event in their childhood.
Fragrant wood, according to tradition, was first used in Buddhist rituals in the Nara Period (710-794). As such natural fragrant wood is very rare and it may take centuries to acquire its fragrance, incense was invented and used. Similar to the incense used in churches, it was thought that it had cleansing properties. Even today it is used to clean the long wooden memory tablets sacrificed to the deceased during a funeral.
The scents of kodo are divided in rikkoku gomi (literally six countries, 5 flavors).
The rikkoku are six types of fragrant wood: Kyara, rakoku, Manaka, manaban, sumatora, and sasora.
The gomi are the flavors amai (sweet), nigai (bitter), Karai (hot), suppai (acid), Karai shio (salt).
Being able to analyze a certain smell in these various elements requires a very delicate sense of smell and years of practice.
Since the Muromachi Period (1336-1573), it has been said that kodo has ten physical and psychological benefits or values:
Like the practitioners of the tea ceremony, Kodo adherents come together in a room, a tatami room (room with traditional rice mats) in a private house or temple. They sit in formal seiza style (which soon will be uncomfortable for those not accustomed to it) and take turns trying to guess what flavor is prepared by the Komoto, the person who lights the incense. They hold the incense burner in one hand, and catch the delicate smoke with the other hand and wave it to their faces. Guessing the smell lopks like a game, but kodo practitioners take this art very seriously and devote decades of their life to it.
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