Announcing Kyoto Journal x Shoyeido

KJ is honored to be collaborating with the venerable Kyoto incense maker, Shoyeido, for our upcoming 95th issue on Wellbeing.

Shoyeido has been in the business of crafting hand-blended incense since the early eighteenth century and it is the only company doing so in the ancient capital today.

Incense has been an integral part of Japanese life for hundreds of years and the theme of our forthcoming issue resonated with the Shoyeido team, who know well its role in a holistic and sensory approach to wellbeing. At a time when so-called “lifestyle diseases” are wreaking havoc and prevalence of mental illness is at an all-time high across the Western world, KJ is convinced that Asia has much to teach us about living well and in ways that we may not give much thought to. This was something we wanted to demonstrate in this very issue, so we were delighted to find Shoyeido also shared this vision.

Shoyeido is generously gifting every reader of KJ95: Wellbeing a gorgeous Japanese paper sachet with fine granulated incense, made by hand at Shoyeido’s Kyoto workshop. In the Japanese context this kind of sachet would be used to lend fragrance to one’s business cards or a greeting card, which is both a kind of personal branding but also a way of showing omotenashi or consideration towards the other recipient. But whether you place it in your drawer or hang it from above your car dashboard, it doesn’t matter: it’s all about simply allowing room for the presence of small things to add beauty to and enhance your everyday life.

Pay a visit to Shoyeido’s headquarters on Karasuma Street, a short distance south of the Imperial Palace, which consists of their shop, Kanjyukan (a permanent exhibition space where visitors can see how incense is made) and their factory (tours are held on special occasions such as during Kyoto Design Week).

www.shoyeido.co.jp/english/stores/index.html

Photos courtesy of Shoyeido and Codi Hauka www.codihauka.com

Pre-order forthcoming issue KJ95: Wellbeing to receive your complimentary incense