Master NISHIGIWA offered a lively, interactive presentation explaining the main principles of Kumikō, the exercise of “listening” to different scents and distinguishing among different categories of naturally aromatic woods.
Yano Sensei’s lecture provided an overview of the history of the appreciation of aromatics in Japan, from pieces of aromatic woods preserved in imperial collections from as early as the 6th century, through the sophisticated practice of blending incense at the imperial court in the 9th and 10th centuries, through the use of precious aromatic woods as political capital in the early Warring States period.
Yotsutsuji Sensei provided an overview of the Tokugawa Art Museum collections, with a focus on the numerous objects related to incense culture. The presentation offered a tantalizing taste of the spectacular holdings, which range from substantial quantities of famous aromatic woods that had been collected personally by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo period, to gorgeous lacquerware utensils and furnishings that were used by shogunal princesses and members of the shogunal household.