Incense sticks

It is made by making incense paste or powdered incense into a linear shape. The raw materials are agarwood, cloves, sandalwood, musk, etc., and pine resin to aid combustion, honey or glue as an adhesive, and dyes such as yellow earth, green, brown, and black are added and kneaded together, then placed in a container with many holes in the bottom, extruded, cut, and dried. There are also many incense sticks made by drying cedar leaves and sprinkling perfume on them. In China, there are sticks made by rubbing incense on a bamboo core, but these are not seen in Japan. Incense originally developed in tropical regions such as India, where there are many fragrant woods, and its main purpose was to eliminate body odor, but it was linked to Buddhism early on, and its effect of purifying the mind was emphasized. Incense sticks were also invented as a simple form of incense. It was introduced to Japan from China in the early Edo period, where it is placed in the ashes of an incense burner and burned during Buddhist ceremonies, funerals, and memorial services. When placed at the bedside of the deceased, only one stick is placed to ensure that the spirit does not get lost, and the direction of the smoke is sometimes used to predict the spirit's whereabouts. It is widely used in Okinawa for Shinto festivals, and in Honshu it is also used in the ashes of a hearth to worship the god of fire. It is also widely known that incense is burned inside a mosquito net as a spell to ward off lightning. As it burns well, it is also used for moxibustion. It was also used to eliminate odors by placing it in the toilet. Mosquito coils are made by mixing ingredients from pyrethrum and forming a spiral shape.

[Shoji Inoguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

練香(ねりこう)・抹香(まっこう)を線状にこしらえたもの。原料は沈香(じんこう)、丁字(ちょうじ)、白檀(びゃくだん)、麝香(じゃこう)などで、燃焼を助けるための松脂(まつやに)、接着材として蜜(みつ)や糊(のり)、それに黄土、緑、茶、黒などの染料を加えて練り、底に多くの穴をあけた容器に入れて押し出し、切って乾かす。杉の葉を干して香水をふりかけてつくったものも多く出回っている。中国では竹を芯(しん)にして香を塗り固めたものがあるが、日本ではみかけない。香は元来、香木の多いインドなど熱帯地方に発達し、体臭などを消すことがおもな目的であったが、早くから仏教に結び付き、心の浄化作用の面が強調された。また簡便な形の香ということで線香が考案された。日本には江戸時代の初期に中国から伝来し、仏教行事や葬式・供養のとき、香炉の灰に立ててくゆらす。死者の枕元(まくらもと)に立てるときは、霊が迷わぬようにと1本だけ立て、また煙のなびく方角から霊の行方を考えたりすることもある。沖縄では神祭りにも広く用いられ、本州でも火の神を祭るためにいろりの灰に立てる例がある。落雷除(よ)けの呪法(じゅほう)として、蚊帳(かや)の中にこもって線香を燃やすことも広く知られている。火もちがよいので灸(きゅう)のときにも使う。便所に立てて臭みを消すことにも使われた。蚊取線香は除虫菊の成分を混ぜて、渦巻状につくったものである。

［井之口章次］

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