Kumiko · The Game of Listening to Incense
Kumiko is the most enjoyable part of the incense ceremony: take several pieces of aromatic wood, burn them according to a prescribed score, close your eyes to distinguish the scents and guess their combinations—incense, poetry, and play become one.
"Kumiko" is the core game of elegant incense gatherings: the host takes several thin slices of aromatic wood and heats them one by one over indirect fire according to a set score; participants close their eyes, smell the incense, distinguish similarities and differences, and deduce their combinations—sometimes also matching the results to literary or competitive games.
Common Kumiko
- Genji-kō: Based on the fifty-four chapters of The Tale of Genji, using combinations of five aromatic woods; according to the incense-smelling results, one determines which "type" it belongs to, elegant charm echoing literature.
- Kurabe-uma-kō: A Kumiko enjoyed as a horse-racing wager, adding the pleasure of competition beyond smelling incense.
- Four Seasons Incense / Rainy Night Incense / Hundred-Step Incense: Each is created according to season, setting, or score; the ways of play differ, but the delight lies in "distinguishing."
Order of the Incense Gathering
Group incense is conducted according to the incense seating: setup (laying out the seat) → lighting incense (cutting thin slices and placing them on mica/silver leaf over a fire) → smelling incense (holding the censer in the left hand, gently fanning with the right hand, smelling closely three times) → judging the incense. Its "discerning flavors in stillness" is with China'sincense seating etiquetteThe sense of quiet respect is共通, yet it adds more playful and literary color.