JINKOH KOBOKU SOLID JAPANESE INCENSE - Oud, Saffron, Nard, Borneol (& more) for a unique ancestral medicine grade incense from Japan

The philosophy behind this incense forula is both pharmakeia and fragrantica:  achieving the balance between the olfactive quality and the herbal medicine it is intended to be at the very same time. 

It thus takes the form of pressed-incense little lozenges that can be either eaten as a natural herbal medicine (according to japanese medicine) or used as fragrant incense (on a heater rather then burnt, ideally though the later is possible).

My personal favorite way is to let  one little lozenge (or half one) slowly melt in the mouth. sometimes close to the palate, sometimes under the tongue, sometimes close to where I feel an energy congestion.

Some of the ingredients (see the list below) allow for immediate sinus opening, feeling invigorating, focusing, calmly energizing. It is a great inducer for meditation.

It takes quite a while to fully melt down in the mouth but I find the experience extremely pleasant and fruitful (see taste description below to make sure). 

The Recipe 

The original recipe is several centuries old, though its current formula has been perfected and stabilized around 200 years ago.

It follows the spirit the the “Ten Virtues of Kō (kōnojūtoku / Kō means fragrance ) formulated in the XVith century : a traditional repertoire of the benefits derived from the proper use of quality incense.

感格鬼神 : Sharpens the senses
清浄心身 : Purifies harmonizes the body and the spirit
能払汚穢 : Eliminates pollutants
能覚睡眠 : Awakens the spirit
静中成友 : Heals loneliness
塵裏愉閑 : Calms in turbulent times
多而不厭 : Never unpleasant, even in abundance
募而知足 : Sufficient even in small amounts
久蔵不朽 : Conserves and cures well
常用無障 : Is not harmful if used regularly

This incense is produced according to a multi-centennial family recipe by a Japanese pharmacist (the same family who created the original recipe). The current maker's presents it under the headline of "a fragrant care medicine that restores the circulation of energy ( qi ) to a normal state"

He recommends it for : stressful times, sleep problems, digestive problems, energy congestion problems, etc.

Main ingredients

Medicinal grade Oud (Aquilaria agallocha / kiara quality), Saffron, Spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi), Japanese kusunoki camphor (Cinnamomum camphora), Dryobalanops aromatica, Cyperus rotundus L., Saussurea costus, Cinammon (C verum)

The oud and the spikenard have important calming effects while at the same time allowing for re-circulation of stagnant energy (qi) and acting a facilitator to undo congestion or blockage.

How to use it

The most important feature of this japanese incense medicine is its fragrance.
Scent enters through the nasal cavity and works directly on the nerves centers and sinuses giving a very interesting local effect on those and the brain, before acing in all the body via ingestion

All ingredient are medicinal grade (above food grade).

The best internal use it to put it in  mouth and let it slowly melt, letting the aromatics blend with saliva and starting to operate their magic with the mouth, sinus and head. 

If you wait for the whole lozenge to melt in your mouth, it will take a long time. It is of course possible to chew it after a certain amount of time (I prefer for it to melt fully, personally).

It can be taken internally too without the first stage mouth melting stage :  broken down in smaller pieces and drunk with water. The pleasing and performative effects within the nose, sinus and head will be missed, but the energy activating, harmonizing, energizing and other effects will be there (via the bloodstream).

It is also possible to use it as incense. My recommendation is to use an electric heater on a low setting, and enjoy "listening" to the fragrance at close range, focusing on air flow and opening the sinuses and airways. The opening is surprisingly gourmand, evoking a winter pastry with creamy cinammon notes appearing first, very quickly other ingredients like the agarwood/oud join the dance.

The lozenge can be eaten after heating. It will be less potent, but there will still be active substances.

It is of course also possible to burn it like any incense on coals, but then of course, the remains are not to be eaten.

Fragrant medicine

In the traditional medicinal systems of Tibet, China, India, Japan and many other Asian many important substances are common to both perfumery and medicinal treatments. And of course there are more overlaps between the two fields than in our fragmented capitalistic west, which strives on industrial allopathic medicines and industrial perfumes (sic gloria mundi) which of course will be totally separated things.

 Jinkoh Koboku (fragrant agarwood / oud) combined with herbs and other aromatic substances was burned to provide a fragrant incense for religious purposes since the sixth century. It then also became a refined art of enjoyment for the nobility. Fragrant medicinal incense is attested since the XIth Century, and proably older. 

This japanese medicinal incense is the fusion of the two approaches, most often separated in different spheres and markets in the contemporary world.  It is meanigful to to realize that many if not most of today famous quality japanese incense houses started as pharmacies, that got specialized since the later XIXth early XXthe centuries.