Making Scents of Smell: Manufacturing and Consuming Incense in Japan

The academic discourse on smell is characterised by a set of "myths," or "mode of signification," that cover a broad range of cultural, historical, linguistic, moral, physiological, racial, religious, sexual, social, and symbolic olfactory phenomena, and that include, in particular, smell as an undervalued sense, the articulation of smell, and its association with ritual practices. These myths frame the discussion of the processes by which incense is produced in Japan, as well as of the various challenges facing a manufacturer with regard to consistency of raw materials, kneading blended materials, and drying formed incense sticks. The article then concentrates on a group of incense manufacturers located on the western coast of Awaji Island in the Inland Sea of Japan, and suggests that it is access to, and successful management of, olfactory knowledge that enables a subcontracted supplier to become independent by producing his own incense brands. It concludes by tracing connections between smell, transiti...

[1]  L. Hearn Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan , 1894 .

[2]  Nils Bubandt,et al.  The odour of things: Smell and the cultural elaboration of disgust in Eastern Indonesia , 1998 .

[3]  Joseph M. Williams Synaesthetic Adjectives: A Possible Law of Semantic Change , 1976 .

[4]  Charles S. Sell,et al.  The chemistry of fragrances , 1999 .

[5]  E. Köster,et al.  Olfaction, Taste, and Cognition: The Specific Characteristics of the Sense of Smell , 2002 .

[6]  A. Gatten A Wisp of Smoke. Scent and Character in The Tale of Genji , 1977 .

[7]  N. Groom Frankincense and Myrrh: A Study of the Arabian Incense Trade , 1981 .

[8]  Kelvin E. Y. Low Presenting the Self, the Social Body, and the Olfactory: Managing Smells in Everyday Life Experiences , 2006 .

[9]  S. Rasmussen MAKING BETTER "SCENTS" IN ANTHROPOLOGY: AROMA IN TUAREG SOCIOCULTURAL SYSTEMS AND THE SHAPING OF ETHNOGRAPHY , 1999 .

[10]  I. Bird Unbeaten Tracks in Japan , 2019 .

[11]  J. Goody The culture of flowers , 1994 .

[12]  Mark Granovetter,et al.  Alliance Capitalism: The Social Organization of Japanese Business. , 1994, The Journal of Asian Studies.

[13]  Read Online,et al.  The scented ape : the biology and culture of human odour , 1990 .

[14]  D. Ackerman,et al.  A Natural History of the Senses , 1990 .

[15]  A. Holley Olfaction, Taste, and Cognition: Cognitive Aspects of Olfaction in Perfumer Practice , 2002 .

[16]  A. Guérer,et al.  Olfaction, Taste, and Cognition: Olfaction and Cognition: A Philosophical and Psychoanalytic View , 2002 .

[17]  Jim Drobnick,et al.  The smell culture reader , 2006 .

[18]  Robert John Smith,et al.  Ancestor worship in contemporary Japan , 1974 .

[19]  Rodney Clark,et al.  The Japanese Company , 1980 .

[20]  Roja Dove The Essence of Perfume , 2008 .

[21]  D. Howes Olfaction and transition: an essay on the ritual uses of smell , 2008 .

[22]  Lyall Watson,et al.  Jacobson's Organ and the Remarkable Nature of Smell , 1999 .

[23]  A. Synnott A sociology of smell , 2008 .

[24]  Above the Forest: A Study of Andamanese Ethnoanemology, Cosmology, and the Power of Ritual , 1993 .

[25]  C. Classen The Odor of the Other: Olfactory Symbolism and Cultural Categories , 1992 .

[26]  Catherine Rouby,et al.  Olfaction, taste and cognition. , 2002 .

[27]  Aristotle The Soul , 1931, Card-Carrying Christians.

[28]  J. Embree Suye Mura: A Japanese Village , 1994 .

[29]  D. Watson,et al.  The Sociology of Odors , 1972, American Journal of Sociology.

[30]  T. Engen Remembering Odors and Their Names , 1987 .