What CRYSTAL INSENCE Is Made From: Tabu, Cedar, and Crystal Powder

The incense maker Doko Shibagaki works in Fukuoka, and these are the three materials behind CRYSTAL INSENCE. The range has three scents: palo santo, white sage, and Yame cedar.

What binds the incense together

The stick's shape comes from tabu powder, milled from naturally grown Machilus thunbergii in Fukuoka Prefecture. Tabu has little scent of its own. Its job is to hold the incense together, not to perfume it.

Where the scent comes from

The fragrance comes from wood, not from tabu. Cedar from Yame and from Yakushima, and sandalwood. The sandalwood is imported, and it has not been fumigated.

Crystal powder from Yamaguchi

Natural crystal powder from Yamaguchi Prefecture is mixed into the dough. That is where the name CRYSTAL INSENCE comes from. Crystal does not burn, so it stays in the ash after the stick has gone out.

Doko makes the incense without six things: synthetic fragrance, colorants, preservatives, burning agents, hardeners, and aroma oils. The scent comes from the wood and herbs themselves.

Doko's incense is available here.