Taking you to the wonderful world of Incense. Column#3 : The History of Koh (2) Development into Koh-Do In the fourteenth century, people started to use incense wood instead of Nerikoh (Blended Incense balls). This was called Koh-awase, the precursor of later "Kumikoh" which required multiple kind of Kohboku (Koh wood) and was eventually called "Meikohawase". In the Age of Civil Wars in Japan, Koh-Do spread among high-ranking samurai as well as aristocrats, sharing the popularity with Tea ceremony. In Azuchimomoyama period, also known as the Renascence period in Japan, people in the upper class often had cultural and social events to enjoy performances such as Tea ceremony, Renga (linked verses) composition and Noh play. Koh-Do played an important role as one of such cultural phenomenon in the period. While developing and shaping its formalities, Koh-Do started to be acknowledged as one of "Geido", refined art that is supposed to be performed following certain rules and manners. In this respect, Koh is somewhat different from perfume in Western countries. People don't expect further than fragrance from perfume, which is not the case of Koh. No longer an innocent pastime, Koh-Do prevailed beyond samurai and court class. As intellectual people such as writers, artists, affluent merchants and landowners started to perform, Koh threw great influence on calligraphy, literature and tea ceremony, occupying a precious part of intangible and spiritual asset of the time. Koh-Do is said to have been established as a kind of game by the end of the sixteenth century. Founders of Koh-Do include Sanetaka Sanjonishi, a high-ranking court noble, Soushin Shino, a samurai who had studied Jinkoh under the Shogun Yoshimasa Ashikaga's instruction, and highbrows such as Sogi and Shohaku. Later, Koh-Do was branched off into several schools, among which survived two leading schools, Oie-ryu School and Shino-ryu School. The former, established by Sanetaka Sanjonish shaped the manners and methods of Koh-Do performance, putting more emphasis on literal aspect of Koh. Shino-ryu, the latter, is more systematically organized, putting much emphasis on manners and formality. Oie-ryu maintains Koh as game-playing passed down from court nobles in Heian period. Shino-ryu, on the other hand, spread through samurais and affluent merchants. Having endured long history, both schools exist as two leading Schools of Koh-Do today.