Baieido

Baieidō （梅栄堂） is a Japanese incense company established in 1657, located in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.

History

In 1657, a man changed his name to "Jinkōya Sakubei" and started to sell incense. He named his store "Jinsaku" as an abbreviation of his name. In the Meiji period (1868-1912), the store name was changed from "Jinsaku" to "Nakata Baieidō".

The name "Baieidō" is derived from the three characters Bai, Ei, and Dō.

*"Bai" means "Plum Tree"
*"Ei" means "Prosperity"
*"Dō" means "Shrine or Store"

Traditional Incense

The following are the main incenses made by Baieidō. Their staple incense is "Kōbunboku" （好文木）. Several of the other incenses are based on this incense.

Agarwood

Baieidō also pioneered research into the history of agarwood (also called aloeswood). [http://www.japanese-incense.com/aloeswood.htm] Agarwood refers to a resin that develops from some trees in the Aquilaria genus that are infected with a fungus. The tree produces a resin to protect itself against the fungus. This resin is agarwood. Japanese incense often uses 2 common terms for agarwood: jinkō （沈香） and kyara （伽羅）. Jinkō refers to any kind of agarwood. Kyara refers to one specific type of agarwood.

Japan has been using raw woods in incense since the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333). [http://www.japanese-incense.com/aloeswood.htm] Incense ceremonies are mentioned in The Tale of Genji in the early 11th century. Much later, possibly in the Edo period (1603 - 1867), different agarwoods began to be labeled with different names. The different agarwoods were given the category name "Rikkoku" (六国), literally meaning "Six Countries". Kyara is one of these 6 kinds of agarwood.

* KyaraKyara is thought to have originally come from Vietnam.

* ManabanIt is unknown where in Southeast Asia the original Manaban agarwood came from.

* SasoraThe original location of Sasora agarwood is also unknown. It possibly came from Assam, India.

* RakokuRakoku was from somewhere in modern Thailand or Laos.

* SumontaraSumontara came from Sumatra, Indonesia.

* ManagaManaga came from Malacca, Malaysia.

Most incense companies that make sets of "Rikkoku" replace these traditional agarwoods with available agarwoods that have similar scent properties to the original agarwoods. Baieidō has named the following agarwoods that are used in their incenses.

*Kokonoe no Kumo （九重の雲）This agarwood is from Indonesia. It is used in "Byakudan Kokonoe Kō" incense.

*Tsukigase （月が瀬）This agarwood comes from Vietnam. It is used in "Kaden Kōbunboku" and "Kai Un Kō" incense.

*Ogurayama （小倉山）Ogurayama agarwood comes from Vietnam. It is used in "Shū Kō Koku" incense.

*Hakusui （白水）Hakusui agarwood also comes from Vietnam. It is used in "Tokusen Shū Kō Koku" and "Tokusen Kōen" incense.

ee also

* Kōdō (Japanese Incense Ceremony)

External links

* [http://www.baieido.co.jp/ Baieidō's Website]
* [http://www.japanese-incense.com/aloeswood.htm Rikkoku ("Six Countries" of agarwood)]
* [http://www.oller.net/ Baieido USA]
* [http://www.japanese-incense.com/ Japanese Incense by Kyozaburo Nakata & David Oller]