Nippon Kodo, one of the leading companies manufacturing incense in Japan, continues to make its incense mostly by hand, as has been done for hundreds of years. High quality of raw materials are used as ingredients in the process of making fine incense.
In the manufacturing process, the natural gums and resins from precious woods and floral ingredients are loaded into vats where they are mixed with other organic raw materials.
These are then loaded into machines, which extrude the long strings of incense, resembling spaghetti through a cluster of tiny orifices, or make them into cones and coils by placing them in molds.
The incense sticks, cones and coils are then cut evenly and laid out neatly and meticulously in wooden forms where they are left to dry.
From here they are taken to a large room where the moisture and temperature are controlled ingeniously by a system of wooded shutters and windows that allow just the right amount of air and light.
The incense products remain in the factory for several days until they have hardened and then they are gathered together, packed and readied for shipment to department stores, fragrance boutiques and incense shops, to people all over the world who enjoy the use of Nippon Kodo incense.
